A/N: I'm really glad to be posting another chapter of this story. It's been far too long. Thank you all for your unending patience and support. You guys never cease to amaze me. I'm sorry it takes me forever to update - I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Also, there's a quote from Ace Ventura tucked away in here somewhere.

The songs for this chapter are Rebel Yell by Billy Idol, and Ordinary Life by Kristen Barry.

WARNING: This chapter might get too graphic for some to handle. Please read at your discretion.

"There is no way!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"I shit you not," Damon replied, an amused smile snaking across his lips.

"No way!" she repeated emphatically, shaking her head. "You did not give Billy Idol the chorus for Rebel Yell."

"Part of the chorus," he corrected. "The best part, if I say so myself. It was... '82, I think – at this killer party in downtown Manhattan. There was a lot of alcohol involved and," he whispered out of the side of his mouth, "maybe a bit of cocaine on his part. And I may or may not have stolen his leather jacket afterwards."

"You're so full of shit," she laughed, leaning back against the car door to look at him better.

"It's in the back of my closet if you want to see it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "A leather jacket at the back of your closet proves nothing. You own a million of those."

He tipped his head in her direction as if acquiescing to her point. "That would be true, if it wasn't the same one he was wearing in his White Wedding music video-"

"Nice try, Salvatore, but Billy Idol didn't wear a leather jacket in that video," she quickly schooled him.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise before he remarked, bemused, "Who knew you were such an Idol fan?"

"I was born in the wrong decade. The names Billy, Prince and Bowie are engraved on my heart."

"Really? No Michael?"

"Excuse me." She placed a hand against her chest to indicate the level of offense taken. "Michael and Whitney should go without saying. What kind of monster do you take me for?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake," he smirked.

"So which part were you going to take credit for?" she asked.

"Hey! I really did help him write it. And I really did steal his jacket too. I just don't have a way to prove it—"

"Sure..."

"—And I already told you – the best part."

She snorted. "Let me guess: more, more, more."

"You wouldn't have guessed that if you didn't secretly think it was the best part," he countered in sing-song tones.

"Please," she scoffed, turning her head to study the passing landscape.

They were only a few minutes away now.

Normally, Bonnie would be using this time to slip into game mode, get herself focused on the task at hand, but she could admit to being more than a little distracted by the caricature that was Damon Salvatore. Not that she minded.

It seemed like a lifetime ago since she and Damon had been able to speak so easily, and in a way it had been. And despite what lay ahead of them, Bonnie felt lighter than she had in weeks.

"So... question..." she ventured quietly, "What did you mean when you said you get sentimental?"

She peeked over at him and noticed his brow arched in her direction.

"Are we bonding now?"

"Yes." She didn't mean for it to sound like a challenge.

He laughed.

"You said you wanted a truce," she continued unabashedly, "this is how you get one."

"We already have a truce," he asserted.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Then if you want me to trust you enough to uphold said truce, I'm going need to know who you are as more than just a vampire," she insisted. "And if... somehow... you manage to get into my good graces, it's very hard to get out of them again."

"Really?" He shot her a skeptical look. "Even for someone like me?"

"Yeah. Even for you. But," she was quick to clarify, "that doesn't mean I'll hesitate to take you down if you go off the deep end. A truce isn't a free pass."

The corners of his mouth drew down. "What, so you'll think the world of me as you plunge a stake into my chest?"

"I'll put my personal feelings for you aside long enough to do what's necessary if it means protecting innocent lives. But that would be a last resort, because..."

She hesitated, not sure she wanted to admit this much, but feeling, more than anything, he needed to hear it. Or, at least, she knew how much these words would have meant to her Damon.

"I'll fight for you too, just as hard as I would against you. Maybe even harder."

She felt the car slow to a stop as his eyes landed on her. There was something there, in his gaze, something heavier than usual. She couldn't put her finger on it. His face was creased with indecision as he studied her.

Eventually, after what seemed like ages, he spoke, "Okay." His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip briefly. Bonnie tried valiantly not to notice. His features smoothed out as he smirked. "But we'll bond later. Right now we have work to do."

Coming down the stairs leading to the tomb, Damon began to sing, "Katherine… you have visitors…"

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but refrained from commenting. Considering his resentment toward his sire, it only made sense that Damon would want to milk every moment of his upper hand while he had it. And, if she were being honest, she couldn't really blame him.

Katherine had a way of bringing out the worst in people.

Reaching the clearing they found the entry to the cave void of life.

"Katherine!" Damon called loudly. "Is this any way to treat your guests?"

Bonnie stepped further into the clearing, scanning the space briefly before choosing a spot in the centre. Settling herself on the ground, she placed her grimoire in front of her and flipped to the marked page. She glanced at Damon, watching as he moved closer to the cave's yawning entrance.

"And to think," he continued sardonically, "we brought you a gift and everything." He pulled a blood bag from his jacket pocket, examining its contents. "A positive, I think. Wasn't that your favourite?"

They waited silently, listening for any kind of noise that would indicate whether Damon's goading was having an effect. When minutes passed and nothing happened, Damon tossed her a careless shrug.

"You might as well get to work then."

Bonnie's lips turned down as she brought her attention back to her grimoire. She didn't like not knowing what Katherine was up to. It felt too risky dropping the barrier without having the vampire in their sights. But they couldn't force her to the entrance – not without one of them entering, and they couldn't enter until the barrier was dropped. Or more accurately, Bonnie didn't like the idea of anyone entering without having a definite way to get out again. It was a risk she was going to have to take if they wanted answers.

Exhaling deeply, she pushed her apprehension aside and got to work.

Closing her eyes, she focused on the pull of magic in her veins – could feel it pooling in the centre of her chest before it spread with a low heat through the rest of her body – and recited the spell.

"Is it done?" Damon asked after a moment.

Blinking her eyes open, she looked to the cave entrance. "Should be."

"Alright. If I'm not back in five minutes… just wait longer."

He moved forward and she scrambled rapidly to her feet. "Wait! I'll come with you."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Worried?"

"I just—" She picked the spell book off the ground and held it to her chest as she came to his side. Careful of her volume, she said, "Something feels… off."

His gaze drifted to the dark entryway, his jaw working as he contemplated her warning, and nodded.

"Fine," he acquiesced, "but stay behind me."

Her lips slanted and she couldn't help but tease back, "Worried?"

"Of course," he tossed over his shoulder as he carefully moved forward into the cave. "If you die, who will I exchange witty banter with?"

"There's always Stefan."

He snorted. "I said witty banter."

Shaking her head, she followed a few steps behind him. The light began to dim around them as they made their way deeper into the cave and Bonnie focused on Damon's back to keep from getting lost in the encroaching darkness.

A groan echoed its way along the cavern walls, making the cave seem bigger and smaller all at once. The strange, distorted sound was almost inhuman and Bonnie couldn't fight the tiny chill it sent down her spine.

A few moments later and they found the source laying on a bench-like protrusion nature had conveniently crafted from the rock face of the wall.

The wind left Bonnie in a silent rush. Katherine was almost unrecognizable: her skin sallow and sticking strangely to her bones, her checks sunken and beginning to protrude, her lips dry and cracking. She was facing them, her body sinking into the rock beneath her as if she hadn't the energy to ever move again. The only part of her that still looked alive were her eyes, which were alert, watching every step they took as they made their approach.

Bonnie came to an abrupt stop, swinging her head away to stare at the pitted wall across from her. Seeing Katherine like this was disturbing. She had gotten much better at separating the monster before her from her best friend, but this moment was proving difficult. She didn't want to imagine Elena like this.

"Katherine," Damon greeted, all business, "Pity it had to come to this, but this is what happens when you don't play ball. You look fantastic by the way," he added, almost like an afterthought.

"You really have no shame," Bonnie commented, her eyes still locked on the wall.

"I did once, but it died a long time ago."

He turned towards her suddenly, his head cocked thoughtfully to one side. "You know what? I don't think we even need this." He held up the little baggie of ash.

Bonnie glanced at Katherine to find the vampire still had enough energy to level a glare their way. A sense of weariness sunk deep into the pit of Bonnie's stomach. "I don't know… I think we should just stick to the plan."

"You worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough," she retorted sharply.

"Why waste the ash now when I can just hold her down? I mean, look at her. She's not going to fight back."

Bonnie frowned. "The ashes only work on her. What would be the point in keeping them?"

"Fine." He rolled his eyes, crossing over to Katherine's prone form.

Coming to a stop right in front of her, he made to open the baggie and—

Moving faster than Bonnie thought possible, Katherine sprang forward, jamming her fist violently into Damon's stomach.

Bonnie's head spun, watching as the baggie slipped from Damon's fingers, ash spilling uselessly across the cavern floor. He doubled forward around the appendage as Katherine twisted whatever she had gotten a hold of inside of him.

Bonnie tried to move forward, but it felt like the ground was shifting under her feet.

This shouldn't be possible. Katherine had been weak, vulnerable, barely more than a shell… How was this happening?

"Thanks for lunch," Katherine spoke, for perhaps the first time in several weeks, each word sounding like it was clawing its way out of her throat. Damon groaned miserably, blood beginning to dribble out of his mouth as he stared at her in disbelief.

"NO!" Power coursed through Bonnie suddenly, dancing on the edge of her fingertips. She reached forward and felt the force leave her in a rush, a wind whipping around her in its wake. It slammed into Katherine, sending her flying back into the rocky cavern wall.

But Katherine hadn't let go of whatever she had grabbed inside of Damon, and Bonnie watched in horror as something long, dark and wet was pulled from him and dragged along the floor.

Like mirror images, Damon and Katherine both crumpled to the ground in broken heaps.

"Damon!" Bonnie cried as she sprinted forward, her heart in her throat. She fell hard onto her knees beside him, panic lancing her chest as she took in the damage. It was… gruesome… Katherine had gotten a hold of his intestines and now they were lying mostly on the cavern floor, blood pooling around them.

Could a vampire die from a wound like this?

"Is it bad?" Damon asked, his voice barely reaching her ears. Her attention snapped to his face. He was paler than usual, his eyes wide and alarmed, lips bloody – he looked younger, more vulnerable than she'd seen him in this century. "It feels bad," he finished quietly.

Bonnie struggled to speak around the sudden tightness of her throat, "I can fix this." Her hands shook as she reached forward. What she expected to do, she wasn't sure. Her hands hovered uselessly over his wound and Damon snorted, but it sounded… wrong. Trying to mask her rising dread, she steeled her voice and spoke resolutely, "Just concentrate on not dying. I'm going to fix this."

"Okay," he agreed simply, before going very still.

Feeling an increasing sense of urgency gnawing at her, she tried to figure out what to do.

Vampires had an accelerated healing rate. Maybe if she could… scoop up his insides and… put him together again, his body would do the rest of the work. It felt crazy – it probably was crazy, but what else could she do?!

Clambering to her feet, she followed the trail of intestines to where they ended close to the wall. With any luck they were still attached to whatever it was they needed to be attached to inside of him and they would just rearrange themselves as needed. God, this was a long shot…

Taking a deep breath in and then out, she swallowed thickly and braced herself for what was already proving to be one of the most unpleasant experiences of her life. Reaching down, she stopped short.

Where was Katherine…?

Moving to straighten up, Bonnie was suddenly pushed off balance. Her breath left her in a rush as her head bounced hard off the rock wall and she fell to her knees, vision blurring into a kaleidoscope of colours.

Before she had a chance to regain her senses, a hand fisted in her hair and her head was forcefully pulled back and to one side to expose her neck. Even through the fog, she could feel the sharp sting of fangs slipping through skin.

She cried out, a fury building inside of her the likes of which she had never felt before. She would not die like this. Damon would not die like this.

Feeling the rage burning in her veins like liquid fire, she surrendered herself to the sensation until it intensified – until it consumed her. Her body was the pyre on which Katherine would burn.

A pained scream echoed off the cavern walls as Katherine wrenched herself away from her neck. Bonnie crumbled forward and spun around to watch as Katherine sputtered and chocked, her fingers digging frantically at her throat.

And then she imagined the veins in Katherine's head going pop one by one.

Blood seeping through the fingers at her throat, Katherine's mouth parted in a scream she could not voice. She bared her fangs in a snarl, her eyes promising retribution, and Bonnie knew, without a shadow of a doubt, she would be the first to die.

Bonnie used that as motivation to apply more pressure. Katherine buckled briefly before disappearing completely.

Bonnie slumped weakly unto the floor, her head swimming and nausea building in her chest. She needed to get up, but she felt strangely weightless. She wasn't sure where her body was, couldn't really feel her limbs.

She needed to get up. Damon was dying. She needed to get up.

Damon, his name echoed between the beats of her heart. Damon.

Slowly, she pried her eyes open – she didn't remember closing them – and pushed herself up onto wobbly arms. The world spun and she took deep, steadying breaths until it stopped. She reached blindly beside her, where she knew Damon's insides were. Doing her best not to think about what it was she was touching, she began the slow collection process.

She had to stop several times, finding it more and more difficult to steady herself. By the time she reached Damon she was shaking hard, sweat dripping down her forehead and stinging her eyes making it close to impossible to see. Despite all this, she made quick work of placing his intestines back inside of him, hoping beyond hope that it would be enough.

He was too pale and still for her liking. She hovered over his prone form – he almost looked like he was sleeping. "Damon," she called gently. "Wake up."

When it was clear there would be no response, she reached one trembling arm forward and gave him a tiny shake. "Damon," she tried again, a little more forcefully, "wake up. You need to heal now."

Still nothing.

If only there was a spell… but healing magic wouldn't work on a being that was technically already dead. Grams had taught her that.

Bonnie's shaking was getting worse and the stinging in her eyes was making it difficult to keep them open. She just wanted to lie down, just for a little while – just until the room stopped spinning.

"Damon." She put some strength into her hand as she slapped him, leaving a smear of red on his cheek. The colour was startling against the pallor of his skin. She stared at it for a long time, transfixed. There was an answer to something in the crushed crimson across his cheek.

She gasped quietly when another drop of deep red appeared at the corner of his mouth. And then another and another and another. They were falling on him like raindrops.

And what he needed was a storm, she thought with sudden clarity. He wasn't healing because he had lost too much blood. She had to replace it.

Using her hands more than her eyes, she searched the cavern floor around her. Her fingers skimmed over a loose stone roughly the size of her palm. She grasped it, bringing it to face level. It was chipped and jagged, but not sharp enough to break skin.

She closed her eyes and imagined the edges being sharpened against a wet stone. She imagined the sleek point of steel at the end of a blade; saw it slicing through layers of skin like air. Then she blinked her eyes open and there it was.

She brought the newly formed blade to her wrist and, with no hesitation, made an incision. Quickly, so as not to waste any blood, she placed the wound against Damon's lips and waited.

Feeling the pull as he finally began to swallow, she sighed and closed her eyes in celebration.

Damon felt like shit.

It felt like he had been put through a grinder. His limbs were leaded weights holding him against the rough floor; his mouth tasted like blood – his or someone else's, he couldn't be sure. His stomach… He didn't want to even think about his stomach. It was as if someone had ripped out his insides and then decided to stuff them right back in again.

He groaned miserably, and tried to distract himself from whatever the hell was happening with his intestines. Slowly, he pried his eyes open and let them adjust to the darkness. Soaking up the microscopic light available, he began to discern the pockmarked, rocky surfaces of the walls around him.

Why was he lying on a cave floor?

He was sure there was a logical explanation. If only he could remember what it was…

Something about ashes… and… Katherine…

That bitch.

He remembered the feeling of her arm going straight through his abdomen, which would explain the current unpleasantness he was experiencing. He fumed silently for a moment, trying to work out what had gone wrong. How had she gotten the upper hand?

He groaned louder and listened, a frown etched across his face as the evidence of his failure echoed back at him.

Then he frowned deeper. It was quiet in here. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he darted his eyes around the small space looking for any sign of a lurking vampire.

He scoffed suddenly and to his immediate regret.

Katherine didn't lurk when she had the advantage. If she were still here she'd be hovering over him with something sharp pointed directly at his heart.

Which meant she had gotten away— And where in the hell was Bonnie?

An unprecedented sense of foreboding rendered him motionless. Holding a breath he didn't need, he listened carefully for any sign of life. If he tried he could make out the sound of her heartbeat, but it was faint – alarmingly so – and nearby.

Still feeling oddly weighted down, he strained his neck to the side to see Bonnie lying limply beside him. The sight of her did not reassure him. If anything, it made everything worse.

She was covered in blood. Literally. The front of her jeans, the sleeves and chest of her sweater – everything was stained with it. It streaked like ribbons across her face and neck from the wound on her head, and she had a nasty cut at her wrist which was slowly leaking blood she couldn't afford to part with.

His head spun, trying to piece together what could have happened.

She was still alive – barely, but Katherine hadn't managed to kill her and somehow Bonnie must have driven Katherine away, otherwise they would both be dead – of that he was certain.

The fight between them had been enough to injure Bonnie pretty seriously. But then what? What the hell had happened? And…

He noticed the sharp metal object she cradled loosely in her hand.

Where the hell had she gotten a dagger from?

He eyed the blood stained tip of the blade with suspicion. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the sight of it.

With far more effort than it should have taken, he shifted closer to her.

"Bonnie." Reaching forward, his fingers brushed against her skin. She felt cold. His apprehension was mounting the more he studied her. She was too pale and too cold and her pulse was too faint for his liking. She needed a hospital. She needed blood. She needed his blood.

But did he have any blood to give? Fuck, he needed blood. He had no idea what was happening with him, but he could still feel his insides literally churning. A strange desperation swelled inside him as he struggled closer, not sure how to help her.

"Bonnie," he whispered her name like a prayer. "Don't die." But even as he said it, he knew it was futile.

He had never seen her look so fragile before – even when he could smell the fear on her, she had always seemed so strong. Not broken, like now – like a baby bird that had fallen from its nest too early. The wrongness of the image unsettled him in a way he couldn't define. He needed to save her; he felt the instinct straight to the marrow of his bones. He couldn't—he would not let her die.

Would he die if he gave her blood while he was still healing…?

She was already so pale – the natural warmth of her complexion leached from her skin as she continued to slip away, and he knew that time was running short. That strange, cloying desperation was crushing him under its weight and he forced his limbs to move, to fumble blindly for the phone he knew he had tucked in his back pocket.

His fingers tripped across the screen as he struggled to dial.

"Hello?" His brother's voice rang hollowly in his ears.

"Stefan."

"Damon? What's wrong?" he answered, immediately on high alert, and Damon wondered if he sounded as broken as he felt.

"Blood… Bring blood… Fast…" was all he could manage and then, almost against his will, his breath catching in his throat, "Please."

He dropped the phone, not even sure he ended the call, and reached for Bonnie. Pushing gently on her shoulder, he rolled her onto her back and pulled himself up until he was hovering over her, pretending not to feel what that did to his insides.

He had already bit into his wrist and was holding it against her lips before he could really think about it. He waited what felt like forever until finally… finally… he saw her swallow. The relief that crashed through him was so acute he folded under the weight of it.

He hoped he wasn't crushing her, but he no longer had the power to move. His lips brushed along some kind of metal chain where they rested against her neck, and he sighed. Feeling the rest of his strength stealing away, he wondered vaguely if Stefan would get there in time.

A/N: Soooo... How was that for everyone? If I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure how the regenerative powers work on TVD. I've always wondered how far that ability goes. I remember that episode in season 1 where Pearl pokes Damon's eyes out and then he grows them back, but that's really the only time you see such an extreme case of regeneration. What are the limitations? Could they, for example, regrow a limb? I somehow doubt it, but I hope you guys will be willing to suspend disbelief for me and accept the self-rearranging intestines. lol.

Also, we got a taste of Damon's POV in this chapter, probably not in the way you guys were expecting, but don't worry, it won't be the only time we see it. I know a lot of you have wanted to see his perspective for a long time now and I do plan to explore it a bit further. Eventually.

Again, I just want to thank you all for your patience and kindness. As long as you guys keep wanting to read this story, I'm going to keep writing it - even if it takes me a long time to get the right words out. This chapter was intense, but I hope it was enjoyable in its own way.