AN: Suppose in S7, Episode 2, it was Stefan who was kidnapped instead of Caroline. AU

Disclaimer: The characters within this story are the property of LJ Smith & The CW.

Rated M: Pervasive Language, Bloodplay, Main Character Deaths, Torture & Sexual Content.

Lyrics: Acquainted by The Weeknd.

3 Seconds Too Late

Baby you're no good

Cause they warned me bout your type girl

I've been ducking left and right

Baby you're no good

Think I fell for you, I fell for you, I fell for you

Bonnie Bennett swayed gently to the music her cousin Lucy recommended she buy last month. His name is Abel Tesfaye, but his stage name is The Weeknd. She was in her newly claimed bedroom in Klaus's old mansion of all places. After Stefan and Lily struck the new deal surrendering over the Salvatore Boarding House in exchange for the evacuation of Mystic Falls, there weren't a lot of options left for where they could all live and live together. Klaus's mansion was the ideal choice, so the gang left it to Caroline to be the go-between.

To everyone's surprise, Bonnie chose Kol's bedroom. Her official explanation being that aside from Finn's, Kol's bedroom was the least lived in. Unofficially, well...the Other Side wasn't always misery.

"So, to clarify...this ISN'T a date?" Caroline asked her last remaining best friend as she watched her pace in her underwear comparing dresses.

The beautiful witch sighed. "No, Care. This is just Damon's way of blowing off steam while we're waiting for Lily and her Heretics to strike back. Oh, and Stefan's wonderful idea to evict us from the boarding house-"

"I'm sensing sarcasm."

"You can imagine the toll it's taking on Damon to live on Klaus's dime." Bonnie stared at her friend in quiet contemplation. "How exactly did you convince Klaus to let us move in here, anyway? 'Cause, ah, we've tried to kill each other more times than I can count, he hates Damon, and whatever bromance Klaus had with Stefan ended the moment Stefan set his sights on you."

Caroline huffed and had she been alive, she would have blushed. "I didn't sleep with him again if that's what you mean. You don't honestly think I'm that much of a sucker for a handsome face, do you?"

"Those are some killer dimples," Bonnie said, seriously.

"Oh, god, you've been spending too much time with Damon. I just asked him nicely if we could move in here until the rest of the Heretics are killed and because it was a matter of my safety, he agreed." Caroline bit her lip. "Do you really think we can kill the rest?"

Bonnie stared at her friend with unwavering conviction. "We don't have any other choice."

"And Elena?" Caroline asked gently. "Do you think that maybe Damon's taking this as an opportunity to distract himself from thinking about your link to her?"

Bonnie bit her lip to keep her face from falling. "Maybe so. But even if he is, I owe him this, Care."

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "You don't owe Damon Salvatore a goddamn thing, Bonnie Bennett. He can't fault you for what Kai did."

Bonnie inwardly winced. She didn't like thinking about Kai. Thinking about Kai meant thinking about what she could have done differently.

"You betrayed Kai, he let them out, and I got to bury all my buddies from the Sheriff's department."

That hurt her more than she wanted to admit.

"Bonnie?" Caroline called softly. "Matt didn't mean it. He was just upset. You weren't there that day. So many people died. Innocent people. It was like Alaric and Jo's Wedding Part 2: The Heretic Edition," she shuddered.

Bonnie averted her eyes, determined not to let herself remember the furious look in Kai's eyes the night of the wedding, the way his fingers ghosted across her face as she lay choking on her own blood moments before Damon's arrival. "You were the closest I ever came to loving someone, Bonnie..."

Caroline sensed Bonnie's inner turmoil. "I like the black one...but that's more of a little black dress made for a date, and this isn't a date, right?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes, resolving to keep Kai out of her thoughts for the night. "Damon and I aren't dating. I could never do that to Elena."

"Despite Elena telling Damon to live, date, and be happy while she's sleeping?"

"Caroline."

"Okay," she said, raising her hands in surrender. "Okay, leaving it alone." She looked at the dresses with a more critical eye. "I'm thinking the black or the red. Where's he taking you anyway?"

"Somewhere in town, maybe?"

"Maybe?" Caroline echoed, dubious.

"He wasn't exactly specific. He just said we were doing something fun and to be ready at 7."

"That's comforting."

"Damon doesn't want to risk traveling so far away when we're still waiting for the Heretics to make a move."

"That makes sense, I suppose," she grudgingly admitted. "They have been quiet lately."

"You worry too much, Care."

"How can I not? Every second you're alone with him, I'm terrified Stefan or Matt's going to call and tell me Elena's awake." Caroline's silent fear didn't go unnoticed. "I can't lose you again, Bonnie. I just can't."

Bonnie pulled her friend into a hug, momentarily disregarding her own partial nudity. "Nothing is going to happen to me. Even though it's hurting him, Damon won't let anything stop me from living out my natural life."

"If you say so," Caroline mumbled, still feeling unsure.

"I do say so." She pulled back, discreetly drying her eyes. It touched Bonnie that Caroline would rather have her around for the next sixty years than see Elena awake tomorrow. "Now enough tears. Make me pretty," she demanded.

Caroline laughed. "As if you need anyone's help with that." Surprisingly, Caroline didn't pick red strapless or the blue romper. "I think this will go nicely with whatever Damon has planned."

At exactly 7, Damon knocked on Bonnie's bedroom door. The green-eyed little witch couldn't stop the corners of her mouth drawing up into a blinding smile at Damon standing on the other side. He had shed his leather jacket for the occasion in exchange for a crisp black suit and matching undershirt. His shaggy hair was neatly brushed and still damp from the shower. His crystal blue eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Hi, Damon," she said, stepping forward to hug him briefly.

"Hi, Bonnie." He pulled back, letting his eyes travel over her with just the slightest leer that had Bonnie inwardly preening. Caroline's choice was in fact the little black chiffon ruffled dress with a belted waist, paired with a pair of Rebekah's Christian Louboutin Carlota strappy platform pumps. Caroline had given her ringlets over her natural waves and kept her makeup simple with Kohl eyeliner and two coats of red lipstick. She kept her grandmother's ring on and added the diamond droplet earrings her father gave her the Christmas before his murder. "You look nice, oh and look, with the heels you almost reach my chin."

Even knowing it would only feel like the tickle of a feather, Bonnie placed a well aimed punch against Damon's shoulder.

"Hey, I am not that short."

"Sure you're not," he mocked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You look nice too, by the way. What's behind your back?"

"Nothing," he lied.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed playfully. "You're lying." She reached behind him, but Damon dodged away from her using, his preternatural speed. "Come on, what is it?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." Damon pulled a bouquet of blue tulips.

Bonnie gave Damon a dazzling smile. "My favorites!" she plucked the bouquet from his hand and sniffed them. "Thank you, Damon." She quickly conjured a vase, filled it with water, and dropped the bouquet in so they wouldn't start to wilt.

"I love watching you practice."

Bonnie looked over her shoulders, giving Damon an incredulous look. "Since when?"

"I've always liked watching you do your witchy woo, Bennett."

"Oh, yeah, Salvatore? Because I seem to recall you whining about it taking too long."

"Ah, you know I tend to get fussy without my bourbon," he said, flippantly. "Are you ready?"

Bonnie's eyes sparkled excitedly. "Where are we going?"

Damon shook his head. "Nuh-unh, a surprise is a surprise, Bon-Bon."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but took Damon's hand, closing the door to her bedroom. Bonnie noticed Damon's distasteful glance towards her closed door. "What?"

"I just can't understand why you picked that dick's room out of all the other rooms in the mansion."

"We've discussed this. Kol's room is the best choice for me because I would rather die than sleep in Klaus's bed, just the thought of Elijah makes me want to break something, Caroline already claimed Rebekah's room because of the makeup and jewelry she left behind, and well, Kol had the most comfortable bed. Even better than yours actually."

Damon looked affronted. "No way Kol Mikaelson's bed is better than mine."

"Yeah huh," she childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

Damon spun Bonnie around so that she was between him and the wall. "Then maybe you ought to invite me in there one of these days and show me."

Bonnie could feel Damon's subtle teasing shift into something less innocent.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Bonnie laughed it off and quickly ducked out from under his arm. "Keep dreaming, Salvatore."

"You'll change your mind one day, Bennett."

They continued to bicker over nonsense as he led her to the attic.

"This is actually kind of spooky."

"Relax, Bonnie. You've got me to protect you."

"Hence the spooky part."

Damon let go of Bonnie's hand, leaving her floundering in the cold, darkened room. "I smell popcorn," she said, suddenly. "Damon?"

The lights flickered on quickly, discomforting her eyes. Once she adjusted, Bonnie could only stare in awe.

"When did you do all this?"

The attic had been converted into a small movie theater with a huge white screen hanging against the back wall. Instead of the conventional theater chairs, there were eight rows of seven large black leather chairs. Behind the rows were an old-fashioned red and gold portable popcorn stand, a small sliding door freezer filled with assorted ice creams, and an actual drink fountain.

"I didn't," he answered simply. "Blondie gave me the keys last night. I only needed to pop fresh popcorn, change out the drinks, and restock the ice cream bar. Rebekah apparently talked Klaus into building this for Finn and Kol who had missed the advent of modern cinema."

Bonnie looked at the chairs closely. The last row had all five Originals names etched in ornate gold lettering on the backs of the chairs.

"That was...thoughtful of him," she said, her eyes lingering wistfully on his name.

"It would have been had they stayed civil long enough to use it. And, well, you know, lived."

Bonnie ignored Damon's caustic remarks on his loathing for all things Mikaelson.

"Boy, I bet Stefan could make a romantic date for Caroline up here." Damon's expression visibly darkened. "What?"

"Stefan isn't exactly speaking at the moment."

Bonnie bit her lip and shuffled closer to Damon. "He's still mad about the broken deal with Lily and the Heretics?"

Damon hummed noncommittally. His jaw ticked and his eyes blazed as if he was thinking something unpleasant.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she said softly, slipping her hand in his.

Damon's eyes shifted down towards their joined hands. Her hands were so little compared to his, but he of all people knew her small stature was almost purposely deceptive.

"Not tonight," he answered, finally.

"But soon?" she pressed.

"Soon," he promised, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Tonight," he said, lifting her off her feet earning a startled squeal from the witch. "Just relax." He sat her down in the second to last row, skipping the engraved seats to her small relief. "And enjoy the show."

The lights dimmed until the room was again plunged into darkness. The screen started up and the classic 5...4...3...2...countdown appeared. Bonnie clapped in delight as that familiar tune announced that they would be watching one of her top five favorite films.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Damon, I love it!"

"I knew you would." Damon took a seat beside her, passing her a large bucket of popcorn, a small cherry coke, and a chocolate eclair. "Hey, don't hog all the popcorn, Bennett."

"Should have gotten your own, Salvatore," she said even as she passed him the bucket to open her ice cream bar.

"Why can't you be awesome like Harry?" Damon complained when Harry did a nosedive on his broom to chase the snitch and then pulled up at the very last moment at his first Quidditch match.

"I think I'd rather be Hermione," Bonnie admitted as the curly haired child set Professor Snape's robes on fire.

Even with Damon's teasing of little kids from England being cooler than her, Bonnie could admit that it was easily one of the best night in her life thus far.

"That was so much fun, Damon. Thank you." Bonnie sighed. After they had restored Klaus's theater back to its former spotless glory, she knew they would have to get the rest of the gang together for a movie night up there.

"The night's not over yet." He led her to the dining room, reveling in her startled gasp. "We are celebrating the death of one of Lily's freaks, after all."

Before Damon removed it, there used to be an obscenely large table that was fit for a king's banquet hall. Now there was a single cloth covered roundtable centered under the candlelit chandelier. The room was pleasantly warm in contrast to the cold attic due to the burning fireplace in the other room. There were two chairs at the table and he had placed a single red rose in a vase between the two tin covered dishes. Between the warmth and the flickering candlelights glinting off the chandelier crystals, the room both looked and felt like an intimate dinner between lovers rather than friends.

Bonnie gulped heavily, looking at Damon with wide eyes, confusion and excitement warring in their green depths.

"A celebration, remember?" He ushered her over and pulled out a chair for her.

"I guess I wasn't really expecting you to do all of this."

Bonnie watched Damon take his seat across from her as she fiddled nervously with her hands.

"Stop over thinking it. It's dinner, not a proposal." He reached across the table and lifted the lid, enjoying the wide curving smile she wore as she surveyed her dish. "Chicken Parmesan Baked Ziti with cheesy breadsticks and salad. Your favorite, right?"

"This is a big step up from pancakes, Salvatore."

Damon glowered playfully. "You wish you could make pancakes as delicious as mine, Bennett."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"I almost forgot the wine."

"Wine?" she said as he made to leave the table. "I thought we were drinking bourbon."

"Bonnie," Damon said, sticking his head back in the doorway. "I'm not that uncivilized that I can't provide my bff with the only beverage naturally paired with pasta."

The instant Damon left Bonnie, his happy, carefree facade was wiped away, leaving in its wake a desperate brother and forlorn lover. He put his hands on the kitchen countertop letting his mother's words wash over him.

"Your brother is in tremendous pain, Damon. Won't you end his suffering?"

Stefan hung limply by his wrists in the basement of their boardinghouse. He had been stripped naked, beaten, tortured, and disgustingly enough fed on. Lily's remaining freaks were scattered around the room watching them silently.

"Let Stefan go," Damon demanded, just barely reining in his need to attack. He had nothing to do with Malcolm. I killed your little freakshow son, not Stefan."

Lily's eyes flashed lividly, murderously, before she regained her docile mein. "Yes, you and the witch murdered my child." Lily's sharp eyes caught Damon's posture go rigid when she mentioned Bonnie. "Tell me, Damon, how far are you willing to go to save your brother?"

"Damon!" Bonnie called, bringing him back to the present. "If you don't hurry back I'm going to start without you!"

"Go on, I'll be right there!" He pulled the small baggie of ground sedatives from his pocket, still unsure if he could go through with it.

"Just think, not only will you have Stefan safe and sound, but your beloved Elena will be yours once and for all. The only thing standing between you and the love of your life is Bonnie Bennett, and compared to Elena, what is she to you? The best friend? The savior? The catalyst in Kai's revenge for that stunning bit of betrayal? Sshh!" Lily closed her eyes and swayed like her namesake caught in a summer's breeze. "Do you hear it? Kai screaming Bonnie's name, all but begging her not to abandon him? Why, had she not trapped him in yet another prison world, Josette and Alaric would be proud parents now, poor young Tyler Lockwood would not be running wild and Elena would be in your arms rather than locked inside a cold coffin while you watch the sand fall through the hour glass of her 60 year confinement. Who will it be, Damon? Your suffering brother and slumbering lover? Or your Bennett witch who has led you all to your ruin? The choice is yours..."

Damon's hand shook as he emptied the white powder into the bottle of Pinot Noir.

Bonnie was a fourth of a way through her pasta by the time Damon returned. Her cheeks were puffed comically as she chewed, looking like an adorable chipmunk.

"What took you so long?"

Damon shook his head and settled across from her. "You have to let it breathe," he said, patiently. He glanced down at her plate and sucked his teeth. "I still can't see where you put it all."

Bonnie chewed proudly, holding out her glass to him. "To the awesomeness that is the Bennett Metabolism."

He filled her glass and then his own saying, "here, here!" He pretended to take a drink, knowing that Bonnie trusted him too much to see through his act. You can either resent me or love me. Either way, you're stuck with me. "Bonnie," he stopped her before she could drink the tainted wine. Her wide, trusting green eyes gazed into his. "Drink up," he said through his guilt. "But save room for dessert."

"Dessert?" she pouted. "I've already eaten so much. What is it?" she said, her smile growing.

"Strawberry cheesecake," he answered proudly.

"Let me guess, Entenmann's or Sara Lee?"

"Don't insult me, Bennett," he huffed. "I went to the Cheesecake Factory."

Bonnie shook her head in faux sadness. "A 140+ year old Italian vampire who can cook like no one's business is an absolute disaster when it comes to desserts. Oh, the shame!"

Damon glowered playfully. "Just drink your wine."

Bonnie took a slow, savoring sip from her glass, sighing in satisfaction. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her unblinking. "What? Is something on my face?"

"No, I just...so much has been going on. From the moment we met it's been non-stop death, carnage, and facing ridiculously powerful enemies. Somehow, along the way, I let myself forget how beautiful you are."

Bonnie's cheeks warmed from both the wine and her embarrassment. "Shut up and eat," she muttered.

By the time Damon brought their dessert to the table, Bonnie could hardly keep her eyes open.

"I think I...drank too much...wine...Damon." She massaged her temples trying to get herself together. "Whaddya say?" she slurred.

"I said, I never wanted it to end this way."

She blinked quickly, trying to shake off the heavy feeling of being dragged down. "Wha-what do you mean?"

"Lily reacted badly to us killing Malcolm." He laughed bitterly. "Turns out the little freak was her favorite." He stared at the wall above her head, circling the rim of his full glass of wine.

"Damon, what's...what's going on?"

"I could have told her to go fuck herself. I could have walked away from Stefan and saved him later, because she'd never let the Heretics kill the only leverage she has over me-"

"-Stefan...? Leverage...what are you-?"

Damon's venomous gaze found hers and she flinched away from the anger she saw there.

"But you're so damn stubborn and selfish." Tears lined the bottom of Bonnie's eyes as she tried to understand what was happening. "I gave you the perfect night, Bonnie. Something your little high school fantasy of becoming Mrs. Jeremy Gilbert could never amount."

"Not true," she whispered, trying to call on her magic to clear her mind. But her magic felt as weak and sluggish as her body. "Drugged me," she realized.

"And what did I get tonight from you, Bonnie? Huh? Shy smiles and coy retreats. Why, Bonnie? Am I not crazy enough like your precious Kai?" Bonnie felt sick, afraid, and angry. "You think I don't hear you crying over him at night or how you whisper his name in your sleep? Or maybe you didn't think I knew about your other journal? The one where you keep reassessing all your confusing feelings for Kai after I left you in 1994?" Damon flipped the table over, careening it against the wall in a fit of rage. He grabbed her by her arms, forcing her to stand. "ANSWER ME!"

Bonnie could already feel the bruises forming beneath Damon's glasses. But she couldn't tear her eyes away from the puddle of spilled wine at their feet. In her drugged and frightened state, a vision rose before her eyes, shimmering in the alcohol.

"You're insane if you think I would ever do that to Bonnie."

"Insane?" Lily's laughter bordered on hysteria. "Yes, I am insane. I am deliriously mad when it comes to my children. You took one from me, you WILL give one back to me." Lily turned back towards an unconscious Stefan and shoved her fist through his chest cavity, gripping his heart. The younger Salvatore awoke with wide eyes and a tortured shout. "Give me my child back Damon or I will wear your brother's heart like a necklace and take your witch anyway."

"Damon!" Stefan gasped. "Don't. Not Bonnie. Elena-" he groaned, blood trickling down the corners of his mouth.

"Sshh!" she turned back to Damon whose eyes were filled with helpless tears. "Do we have a deal, son?"

Damon didn't know how, but as the fog on Bonnie's eyes cleared, he knew that she knew everything. His eyes flicker to her trembling mouth wondering how she would taste. He never once indulged himself when they were in the prison world together. He smashed his lips against hers, swallowing her screams. She tasted of pasta, wine, and chilled apple slices. How had he been so blind to Bonnie this long?

Before he could cause more emotional and psychological damage to the frightened witch a sudden burst of her powers forced him away from her and one of the table legs sailed through the air, piercing him through the stomach, leaving him pinned to the wall.

Damon growled, his fangs extending as he tasted the scent of his own blood in the air. "Bonnie!" he grunted, pulling the table leg out of his stomach. "You know blood play only excites me. Damn," he said, picking at the whole in his shirt. "This was my second favorite shirt." Damon sped to the other room to find her halfway up the stairs. He knew exactly where she would run and it only pissed him off more. He intended to grab the back of her neck, but his sudden touch made her panic and slip. She fell hard against the stairs, creating a nasty gash above her right eyebrow. When she fell, his nails scraped down her back, shredding her dress. Damon flipped Bonnie over, quickly covering her small body with his as she cried and beat her fists against his chest. Her fear and adrenaline had het blood pumping faster to her wounds and Damon knew he needed to finish this quickly before the other lust could take hold. He caged her wrists together with one hand, drawing het arms up above her head. He pressed his lips against hers again, not bothering to taste her now. This time, he meant to kill her.

Bonnie's eyes widened in cruel understanding as her heart pounded too fast and her lungs burned, desperate for the air Damon so greedily consumed. Large tears dropped from her eyelids as she realized this was it. Her best friend was actually killing her.

"One of my children will be keeping a close eye on you and the witch, Damon. To ensure you don't betray me as your lot are so inclined to do whenever the mood strikes."

Damon's fingers enclosed around the single vial of his mother's blood. "I won't betray you."

"That's good." Lily drew close to him and whispered, "because if you do, my children will go after Elena and tear her to pieces. I think the four of them are strong enough to bypass any spell. Even one cast by a Bennett, do you think?"

"Good thing we won't ever have to find out."

Damon, unaware that his own tears had mixed with Bonnie's pulled back when he realized he could no longer hear her heart beating.

Her once vibrant green eyes gazed sightlessly into his. "Bonnie?" he whispered, suddenly wishing he could take it all back. "Bon?" his voice was a soft and sad, echoing the grief of his childhood when he called for his mother beside her deathbed.

Bonnie Sheila Bennett had died for the last time.