A/N: This little plot bunny has been hopping in my head all weekend, demanding to be written, so I abandoned hope of finishing the next chapter of Sacrificial Love to write this. A question I have always wondered was if Damon was supposed to be checking on/protecting the Bennett witches why didn't he ever see Elena when checking in on Bonnie. The girls have been best friends since childhood, so it stands to reason Damon would have noticed something about Elena if he was periodically checking up on Bonnie like he was supposed to. JMHO. Anyway this is my reasoning why Bonnie can't get passed her hatred of Damon and why Damon never noticed Elena before Stefan came back to town.

Back story: This story is AU and is taking place about 6 years in the future. Bonnie was living with Sheila from the time she was 14 and chose to live in Sheila's house alone, after her death. Caroline and Elena run a party planning business; Bonnie is photographer; Jeremy is a teacher; Tyler is running the Lockwood business; Alaric is a history professor and Stefan his assistant; Matt is part owner of the Grille; and Damon is Damon. Stefan and Elena are married and he turned her. Matt and Caroline are engaged and she has turned him. Tyler and Jeremy are happily single, learning tricks from the man-whore guru himself: Damon Salvatore. Bonnie is single and Damon has gradually developed feelings for her, but for some reason, she can't or won't, return them. Klaus and the Originals have been defeated, but nothing supernatural stays away from Mystic Falls for long, so the gang is constantly fighting evil.

WARNING: THIS FIC CONTAINS A VERY MATURE THEME AND THERE ARE MENTIONS OF A SERIOUS AND SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTER.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries, but there is always wishful thinking.

JUST DOING HIS JOB (FINALLY)

Damon watched the figure in the bed and wondered how he could sleep so peacefully after inflicting such pain on one so innocent. Damon wanted nothing more than to invade the human's dreams and torture him as he had tortured his victim, but Damon didn't have time for that. Eternity wouldn't be enough time to terrorize Kevin Bennett and Damon had to do this quick in order get back before Bonnie woke up. He had to be there for her, to protect her and comfort her, like he was supposed to be doing all along. Maybe once he was done with Kevin, he would finally earn some respect in the eyes of his little witch and maybe, just maybe he would get rid of the cold feeling of guilt that had been eating away at him since earlier that evening...

Earlier that evening: Salvatore Boarding house

Bonnie awoke with a start, trying to catch her breath. She took a deep breath and sighed as she swung her feet to the floor. She glanced at the clock and judged that she had gotten about 3 hours of sleep, about average for her. She rose from the bed and walked over to the door, intent on going downstairs to make tea and watch a movie.

Damon heard her again. The heavy breathing followed by a deep sigh, that would soon be followed by her feet hitting the floor and her soft padding downstairs. It had been like that since the witch had come to stay at the boardinghouse 2 weeks ago. (Actually the whole batch of Buffy/Angel/Oz wannabes were camping out at the house, because of them trying to defeat a shape-shifting demon and it was safer to stay with boardinghouse, especially with the protection wards provided by Bonnie) At first he chalked it up to her being unable to sleep in the house with 5 vampires and a werewolf, after that he told himself that the witch was used to sleeping in a house alone, but then Damon noticed that it hadn't gotten any better. Careful prodding of Elena and Caroline had revealed that Bonnie rarely slept a full night and often stayed awake after having frequent bad dreams. There was more to it Damon knew. Caroline told all she knew, but Elena, she knew more than what she told him. She had been avoiding eye contact with him and twiddling the hem of her shirt, classic signs that she was lying, but he had been unable to get the truth out of her. So he decided to go straight to the source. Tonight was the night he found out what was going on in the dreams of the last Bennett witch.

Damon from the kitchen doorway as Bonnie prepared her tea. Never had something so domestic looked as sexy as Bonnie opening and closing cabinets with her graceful, fluid movements. It was all her too, because her sleepwear was anything but hard-on inducing. She was wearing lavender sweatpants and a gray t-shirt. Come to think of it, the most revealing thing Damon had ever seen Bonnie in was her cheerleading outfit when she was in high school. Unlike Caroline and Elena, the witch dressed conservatively, she was stylish, but she never wore mini skirts and there was hardly ever any cleavage to be seen. The object of his thoughts was presently standing on her tiptoes trying, in vain, to reach the honey. Damon walked behind her, pressing his front into her back.

"Let me get that for you," he said, in his velvet voice.

Bonnie gave a jump and quickly turned around, losing her balance as Damon caught her.

"Don't touch me!" she said wrenching away from him.

"Hey," Damon said putting his hands up in mock surrender, "I was only trying to prevent your pretty little bottom from hitting the floor."

Bonnie ran her hands up and down her arms, in an attempt to calm her heart. "Thank you. Why are you awake?"

"Can't sleep when you make enough noise to wake the undead," he answered.

"Sorry, I just couldn't sleep," she apologized.

"Liar," Damon responded.

"Excuse me,"

"You're lying. You haven't slept since you've been staying here. And not because you can't sleep, because you have nightmares. Don't bother denying it, I already checked with BFFs 1 and 2."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "So what if I do, why are you so concerned about it?"

"Because we're friends,"

Bonnie let out a laugh, "You have got to be kidding me. We are not friends Damon. Never have been, never will be."

"You saved my life on more than one occasion. You have to feel something for me," Damon argued.

"I saved you because Elena and Stefan love you. The only thing I feel for you is contempt,"

"I don't think so, I think you feel the same way I do. You feel this connection we have, but for some reason you want to deny it and I can't help to think it has something to do with these mysterious nightmares of yours," Damon said, walking over to her, trapping her between him and the counter.

Bonnie's heart sped up again. She hated Damon invading her personal space. Feeling confined she began giving Damon aneurysms. As he dropped his arms and clutched his head, Bonnie headed towards the front door, intent on leaving the house. But Damon was having none of it, he caught up with her as soon as her hand touched the doorknob.

"What the hell was that all about?" Damon asked as he grabbed her arm, not caring that the commotion had awoken the rest of the house and they had come downstairs.

"I told you not to touch me," Bonnie yelled.

"Maybe if someone did touch you, you wouldn't be a frigid bitch who can't recognize when someone wants you. Hell you couldn't even let yourself make something of Jeremy's feelings of you. You had to shoot him down before you let yourself get close to him."

"Damon, please stop. You don't know what you're saying," Elena pleaded.

"No, I know what I'm saying. I want to know why she blocks everyone out, why she's hiding behind her supposed hatred for me, when I know she feels the same thing for me that I feel for her," Damon demanded.

"Maybe, if you had done your job I wouldn't be such a frigid bitch. Maybe if you had protected me like you were supposed to I could let someone close enough to me." Bonnie said as she walked over to Damon, staring, unblinking up into his stormy blue eyes as tears streaked down her chocolate face.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Damon questioned, looking at Bonnie as if he had never seen her before.

"Everybody this is between Damon and Bonnie, we need to go back upstairs. They need to talk alone," Elena said.

"No we don't," Bonnie said, shaking her head. "I'm going back home."

Elena grabbed Bonnie's arm and ushered her in living room, sitting her down on the couch, as everyone but Damon went back upstairs, he followed closely behind the young women. "No, you are going stay here and tell him the truth about everything or I will. You can't keep this inside of you anymore, it's tearing you apart and I am not going to sit idly by while you destroy yourself for something that wasn't your fault. Now tell Damon, please," Elena said. Bonnie nodded her head affirmatively, as Elena kissed the top of her head. "I love you and I'll be upstairs when you're done."

As she walked by Damon she touched his arm "Please be patient with her, she needs you more than she knows." Elena left the room, closing the french doors softly behind her.

Damon sat down of the couch opposite Bonnie. She had her head hung in defeat and her shoulders were slumped. He couldn't ever remember seeing the witch this despondent and he was determined to find out why.

"Now what was this about not doing my job?" Damon finally asked.

"Exactly what I said. Your deal with Emily was to protect her lineage, and you didn't protect me," Bonnie said in a monotone voice.

"You're still alive. I checked and made sure you were still living every now and then,"

"And did you ever wonder what went on between every now and then? Did it ever once cross your mind that I needed your help and you weren't there?" Bonnie said, finally looking up.

Damon was startled by the blank look in her eyes. "Bonnie I don't understand. I protected you as best I could, but I couldn't be around all the time. I had a life to live."

"No, you had to figure out new ways to torture Stefan and how to rescue Katherine. But that's beside the point. Did you ever wonder why I went to live with Grams when I was 14?"

"I just thought your father let you live with her because he was always gone," Damon responded.

"No, Grams forced him into letting me live with her, after what Elena's mom told her," Bonnie answered, still in the same calm, even voice.

Pieces were slowly putting themselves together in Damon's mind. The way Bonnie dressed, her pushing away guys who were interested in being more than friends, her not liking to be touched much, especially by men were all signs of one thing. Damon got a sick feeling in his stomach, hoping against hope that the wheels turning in his mind were wrong, "Tell me why,"

"From the look in your eyes, you've already figured out, but I'll give you confirmation. You know my mom died when I was 10, but it started before then though. I can remember when he would pick me up the slight touches of my butt that lasted a second or two too long. The way he touched my hair that wasn't quite so innocent," Bonnie continued.

Damon shoved the coffee table out of the way and knelt in front of her, clasping her hands in his, "Bonnie, stop. I can see where this is going, you don't need to tell me anymore," Damon said.

"No! You wanted to know why I hate you, why I can't let anyone close to me, so you're going to get your answers, right here, right know. I want you to see what your broken promise to Emily did to me," Bonnie said angrily swiping the tears from her eyes. She snatched her hands away from Damon, stood up and walked over window. Watching the stars, she couldn't fathom how the night could look so peaceful with turmoil churning inside of her. Shaking away her thoughts, she closes her eyes and calls upon her inner strength to finish her story.

"Anyway, after my mom died the touches became more blatant. He would walk in on me in the bathroom or while I was dressing and just leer at me. He would come into my bedroom at night and he would touch my breasts and between my legs and I felt so helpless and so weak. He told me if I ever told anyone he would have Grams taken away and I would never see her again, so I kept quiet. Then one night when I was 14 he came in my room. I was prepared for the usual touching and feeling. I had figured out how to block it from my mind as much as I could. But he wasn't satisfied with just touching me that night, he, he, he ra-ra," Bonnie couldn't finish her sentence. She hung her head, sobbing.

Damon closed his eyes, trying to turn off the emotions he was feeling. He cautiously walked over to her and carefully folded her into his arms. She stiffened, but soon relaxed slightly. As much as Damon didn't want to hear the words, he knew that she needed to say them. Somehow he realized she had never said them aloud and she needed to. "Say it, Bonnie. You need to say it," he whispered softly in her ear.

Bonnie looked up into his eyes and said the four words she had been holding in for 10 years, "My father raped me."

Damon didn't say anything, just let his fury simmer inside of him. That someone could hurt Bonnie or any child like that was disgusting. As much as he directed his anger towards Kevin Bennett, some was directed at himself. While he was off chasing some way to free Katherine from the tomb, his charge had been at the mercy of a monster.

"Did you tell Sheila then?" he asked.

"I told Elena. I couldn't hold it in anymore, I had to tell somebody. I swore her to secrecy," Bonnie replied.

"But she told anyway," Damon guessed.

"No, she wrote it in her diary and made sure her mom found it. That way she could keep her promise to me, but tell someone what was going on."

Damon was never happier that Elena shared Stefan's interest in diary writing. He didn't want to think what could have happened to his little witch had no one found out what her father was doing to her.

Bonnie suddenly tore out of his arms, eyes wide with pain and accusation aimed at him, "Where were you?"

"Bonnie..."

"No! Where were you, when he was hurting me? You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to be there for me and you weren't."

Damon closed his eyes. Bonnie was only voicing what he was trying to block out from his own conscience. He didn't do what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to make sure that the Bennett witches were protected and safe, that was his deal with Emily. His idea of protecting the witches had been to come to Mystic Falls once a year and make sure they were alive. He never once checked their mates, talked to them, or stuck around to make sure their lives were good. The result of his half-ass protection was standing right in front of him, in the form of the woman he wanted more than anything. The woman who rightfully blamed him for her misery.

"Bonnie, if I could change things, I would. I don't blame you for hating me, I should have been there," Damon said softly.

"I don't want to hate you Damon, I really don't," Bonnie replied, tearfully.

"Don't try to make it better, little witch. The point is I failed you and you have every right to hate me."

"You wanted to know about my nightmares..." Bonnie started.

Damon pressed his finger to her mouth, "No, you don't have to tell me. You don't need to relive that."

Bonnie lifts his finger from her mouth and presses hers to his, "I don't dream about what he did to me. I dream about what I could do to him. I dream about all the ways I could kill him and get away with it. And the only thing that stops me from acting on it is blaming you. Because if I don't blame you, if I don't hate you, I would kill him in the blink of an eye, and if I do that, I know the darkness that's in me will take over, and I will lose every trace of humanity I have. So as much as I want to love you, I can't. I have to hate you Damon to keep from hating myself," Bonnie finished, sobs racking her tiny body, causing her to shake uncontrollably.

Damon gathered her into his arms, "Shh, don't cry, baby. It's okay. Whatever you need to do to survive, you do it. If it means hating me, blaming me, or hurting me, that's what you do."

Damon picked her up and carried her over to the couch, holding her close as she let out over 20 years worth of tears and anguish. Finally exhausted, she fell into a deep sleep. Damon carried her upstairs to his bedroom and placed her under the covers. He sat in the chair in the corner of his room and stared at his precious charge. He didn't react when Elena walked into the room.

"Thank you," Damon said, never taking his eyes from Bonnie's slumbering form.

"For what?" Elena asked.

"Doing my job and protecting her from that scumbag, when I didn't," Damon answered.

"I did what I had to save my friend."

"What I should have been doing instead of chasing that lying whore," Damon seethed.

"Don't make this about you and your failures. Make it about her. Make it about showing her that she deserves to be loved," Elena said. "I made her tell you because I can see that you care about her and she's falling for you, as much as she's trying to hold on to her hate, and it's killing her. You want thank me, make this better."

Damon finally met Elena's eyes, realizing that both their thoughts were along the same track. "You know there is only one option for me to take, one thing for me to do to make sure that she's whole."

"I know, that's the only reason I haven't done it. Making Kevin suffer is your right, nobody elses," Elena answered, giving him a piece of paper. "He's staying at this hotel in Richmond, I'll watch over her until you get back."

Damon stood, went over to the bed and gently kissed Bonnie's forehead. "I'm going to make this right, little witch."

He then went over to the window, transformed into a crow and took off.

Elena sank into the chair Damon had left and prayed that the mission Damon had just undertaken would bring some peace to her best friend's life. Stefan came in and lifted his wife into his lap. There were no secrets between them, she had long ago trusted Stefan with the truth of Bonnie's molestation. "Did he go?" Stefan asked, gently rocking her.

"Yea, I just wish I were there to help him."

PRESENT TIME: HOTEL ROOM IN RICHMOND, VA

As the memories washed over Damon, his fury was burning out of control. How dare this bastard sleep peacefully while Bonnie had nightmares of losing her humanity because of him? Damon stalked over to the bed and yanked the covers from his prey.

Kevin Bennett jerked awake and reached for the light. He turned it on and looked directly into the furious eyes of Damon Salvatore.

"What the fuck is going on? Why are you here? Is something wrong with Bonnie?" Kevin questioned.

Damon grabbed him from the bed and slammed him into the wall. "Don't ever let her name cross your lips again. You shouldn't even be allowed to think of her, let alone say her name."

"Oh, I see what this is about. My daughter has been making up her fairytales again," Kevin replied.

"I would advise you not to insult the man who can snap your throat at any second. We both know what Bonnie told me is true, otherwise why would you let her live with Sheila? And why would you let her live alone at 16 after Sheila died. No, you molested and raped your own daughter, you sick psychopath. "

"I'll tell you like I told my dearly departed mother: prove it. You have less than she had 10 years ago," spat Kevin. "It's Bonnie's decade old memories against my sterling reputation as a successful business man. Who do you think will be believed?"

"You see I have a theory about why Sheila kept quiet. You knew she was a witch and threatened to expose her, so she kept your abuse of Bonnie quiet, but she took her away from you," Damon theorized.

"You would be correct, I also made sure she couldn't do any of her witchy mumbo jumbo on me, because had I died under mysterious circumstances, a letter would have been sent to the sheriff about Mommie Dearests extracurricular activities," Kevin gloated.

"The thing about you Kev, is that you never believed in witchcraft. You always rejected you gifts, therefore you never learned that the supernatural world does exist and that the Bennett witches have been under my protection for over a century. And you chose to hurt the most important one to me, you as good as signed your death warrant."

Damon then changed into his vampire form. For the first time Kevin showed true fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of this creature's vengeance.

"What are you?" Kevin asked dropping to the floor, scampering away as Damon stalked him.

"You should have listened to Sheila, you would have learned all about vampires and our true existence. But I am grateful that you didn't because you never believed we were real, you never saw the need to put vervain in your system," Damon said, as he smiled and picked up Kevin by the throat...

Damon took one last look at the hotel room before he left. Kevin lying in a pool of blood on the bed, having slit his wrists and let himself bleed out under the compulsion of Damon. It was the most painful way Damon could think of for Kevin to die, without having Bonnie being dragged into his death. Not that Damon was content with just allowing him to slit his wrist, Damon made sure to inflict physical and mental damage on him before finally allowing Kevin to slit his wrists. Damon also compelled him to write a suicide note, indicating he was couldn't live with himself, but never confessing all of his sins against his daughter, to protect Bonnie's privacy. Damon also compelled the location of the letters to the sheriff out of him and he would get them and destroy them. Satisfied with his work, Damon took off.

Damon arrived home just before dawn and trudged up to his bedroom. Stefan and Elena immediately awoke when Damon entered the room.

"It's done, she should be getting word sometime today," Damon informed them. He walked over to the bed and gently touched Bonnie's cheek. "Did she wake up at all?"

"No, I can't remember the last time she slept this well. You can go sleep in an extra room, I'll stay with her," Elena volunteered.

Damon never looked up, "I'll stay with her now. I need to be here with her."

"Okay," Elena answered and left the room with her husband.

Damon stared at Bonnie a few minutes longer and then climbed into the bed, his hand lightly gripping Bonnie's.

Bonnie awoke feeling calm for the first time in years. She immediately recognized that she wasn't in her appointed guest room of the boardinghouse, but in Damon's room. She also noticed the cool hand grasping her's. She slowly turned her body and looked up into Damon's eyes.

"Good morning," Damon said.

"Hi," Bonnie responded, shifting to sit up in the bed. "Did last night really happen?"

"Yes, last night really happened. You slept through the night without any nightmares."

"You know that's not what I mean. You know now, you know the truth. You know how broken and dysfunctional I am," Bonnie said, sadly.

"I don't know that. I know how strong and brave you are. I am in total awe of you Miss Bennett," he said with a smirk.

Bonnie couldn't help but smile back. She looked in Damon's eyes and saw something. She saw the guilt, but she also saw some relief and satisfaction there.

Damon knew the second she realized what he had done. She just stared at him unable to figure out if she should be happy that the monster who terrorized her was dead or if she should grieve for the man who provided her with half her DNA.

"You killed him," Bonnie stated, not bothering to ask.

"Actually he killed himself. I may have suggested it, but he did the deed himself."

"Schematics, Damon."

"Did you really expect me to let him live? Honestly, the minute you told me you knew it was only a matter of time before he died."

"I know. So what do we do now?" Bonnie asked hesitantly.

"Well, you should be getting word soon enough from you father's hotel. And we still have a shape shifter to defeat. As far as us, and there will be an us Bonnie, we take things slow," Damon said with a determined look in his eyes.

"Damon, I don't know if I can give you what you want,"

"You can and you will. I'll break down every wall you put between us, be it hatred or popping blood vessels. I'll do whatever I have to do to make you my woman. I'm not Jeremy or Luka, I'm not going to run when you shoot me down, I'm just going to keep fighting until you can't fight back. Let's face it, I have all eternity to wear you down," he replied.

"Okay. Grams had me in therapy after I came to live with her, but I stopped going when all things supernatural started happening. Maybe, I should go start going again," she said.

"Whatever you want, little witch," Damon said, pleased with her suggestion.

"Maybe you can take me?" Bonnie asked tentatively.

"It would be my pleasure," Damon said, his eyes lighting up.

Bonnie walked over to Damon and stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

"I'm just doing my job," he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Bonnie pulled back just a little and pressed her lips against Damon's, initiating their first kiss, which Damon happily accepted.