Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. I am not profiting in any way from their use. The only thing I own is my plot.

Happy Holidays everyone!

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Chapter 7 - Flames

Bonnie pounded on the door. She didn't want to face the people inside the room, but she knew she had to tell them what she was feeling. She couldn't go on with this mission. Physical threats aside, she was starting to worry about the threats to her emotions and mentality.

Elijah opened the door. "Why, Miss Bennett, we were not expecting you. Tell me, how are things coming along with Kol?"

Bonnie glared up into his eyes. She wasn't going to explain herself to him. "I need to speak with your mother." She looked around the room, but she didn't see the older witch anywhere. She was already nervous about what she needed to tell the originals, but upon realizing that she was alone in the room with Elijah, her heart rate sped up. She hadn't interacted, one-on-one, with him since he'd forced the Salvatore brothers to betray her and her mother; since he had basically put a hit out on the Bennett witches' lives and had then left town without so much as an apology.

"She stepped out to get a few things," Elijah informed her, stepping over to stand in front of her. "But she should be back shortly."

Bonnie stared up at the original vampire, and she had to fight the urge to step back away from him, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he frightened her. He wasn't nearly as outwardly vicious or as brutal as his brother Klaus, and his temper rarely flared like his brother's, but he was far more dangerous because of his calm demeanor. When he chose to strike, no one could see it coming.

Despite her fear and growing panic, Bonnie couldn't help but wonder why Esther had gone out to get her ingredients instead of sending Elijah. Not that either of the originals was supposed to be in Mystic Falls, but she would have figured Elijah to be more stealthy than his mother.

"I'll just come back when she's here," Bonnie said, desperate to not be alone with Elijah any longer. She was still angry that he had chosen to apologize to Elena, but he hadn't bothered to spare a moment's thought upon the damage he had inflicted upon the Bennetts.

"Whatever you need to say, Miss Bennett, you can say to me," Elijah told her.

Bonnie continued to glare up at him. "I don't think so," she said.

The door behind Bonnie opened, and she turned to see Esther walking into the room. She was ashamed at the feeling of relief that briefly washed over her.

"Bonnie!" Esther said, setting her bag down on the table as Elijah moved to close the door behind his mother. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. How is everything going with Kol?"

"It's not," Bonnie answered. "This is going to be an unmitigated disaster." She could feel her heart rate speeding up again as she debated how to tell pair of originals that she wanted to back out of their plan. She was no longer comfortable trying to use Kol's interest in her against him, not that she had ever been overly comfortable with the idea from the outset. But now that she had allowed her hormones to overcome her good sense, and she realized that she might actually somewhat like Kol just a little bit, she knew it was time to get out before she completely lost herself. She was already in too deep. It was dangerous to be playing with the vampire's feelings. She was starting to fear what might happen if she actually began to care about Kol.

"What makes you think that?" Esther asked, pulling items out of her bag and setting them on the table.

"Because I'm not a good enough actress," Bonnie said, adrenaline racing through her veins. She hated feeling this way. She hated being ruled by fear. But it was not fear of Kol, even though he was deadly enough to instill plenty of fear, but of her own traitorous emotions. She was afraid that if she spent more time around Kol, things might get just as out of hand as they had in the library, when she'd set the curtains on fire, and she wasn't prepared to deal with that. It was better - easier - to think of Kol as a monster and not as a man.

"Nonsense," Esther said. "I have faith in you. You just need to believe in yourself, Bonnie."

"I know my brother, Miss Bennett," Elijah said, walking over to stand next to her.

Bonnie could feel his eyes scouring her throat, and she sucked in a shallow breath. There was no worse feeling in the world than to have a vampire staring at your jugular.

"And if my eyes do not deceive me," Elijah continued, "I don't believe you'll have any problem twisting him around your little finger."

Bonnie flushed, suddenly realizing why the older vampire had been staring at her throat. Kol must have left some sort of mark when he'd been concentrating his attention on her neck. Having a hickey on her neck when she was trying to convince them that she was not capable of pulling this off was not going to help her argument.

"Clearly, Miss Bennett, you underestimate your talents," Elijah said, a smirk twisting his lips into something unattractive.

"Bonnie," Esther said, "we need you. You are the only person who will be able to get into the mansion to find the moonstone."

Bonnie sighed. She knew that they needed to find some sort of way to contain Klaus, and that their options were limited. She just wished that she wasn't the only option. Why did they need a witch like her, anyway? They were immortal. Why couldn't they handle their business themselves? She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, trying desperately to control her panic. After what felt like forever, but was likely only a few seconds, she released the air from her lungs. "All right," she said. "I'll keep trying."

"Do more than try," Elijah instructed. "If we don't succeed with this, there's no telling what kind of damage Klaus will do."

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Bonnie stared at her alarm clock.

6:23.

It felt like her clock hadn't moved all night. She'd gone to bed the previous evening with too much on her mind, and each minute had crept along, with sleep not coming at all. From Esther's, she'd gone to meet up with Caroline and Abby, and she had wanted to talk to Caroline about Kol and about what Damon had said to her, but Abby had been especially talkative, and she hadn't been able to find a way to bring up the subjects without cutting her off. She'd been waiting too long for a little bit of bonding time with Abby to pass it up. It hadn't been much, but after Abby had brought up wanting to help Bonnie with her magic, if she wanted the help, Caroline had discreetly made her exit, and Bonnie wasn't yet to the point where she was comfortable discussing guys with the woman who'd birthed her.

6:24.

Kol.

Damon.

Yesterday had been an absolute disaster for her, on all fronts. All she had wanted was a simple, innocent study date, no complications or entanglements. Just get the assignment done, feel around with her magic a little bit to see if she could find the moonstone. Easy. So how had it all fallen apart so quickly?

It had started with Kol, of course.

She'd been stupid enough to let him in, briefly, on the night he'd followed her into the woods. But this time, she'd gone into his home, and she'd underestimated his ability to get to her. She'd felt sympathy for him, she'd started seeing him differently, as a man who had once tried to be better than he was, who had been betrayed by love on the two occasions he'd succumbed to the emotion. She understood that, she'd felt that, and not so long ago that she'd forgotten what that felt like, to have your trust broken by the person who should have protected that trust the most. The first time had stung him, but it was long enough ago that the pain had faded. But the second time had broken him, both physically and mentally, and he was only just now picking up the pieces.

And she had the power to potentially destroy him for a third time.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

And then there was Damon. What the hell was going on with him? Bursting into the Mikaelson mansion and announcing that he was in love with her? That was ridiculous. He was in love with Elena, and he'd been determined to ruin her life since she'd met him. Even when he was playing nice, it had been for her best friend's benefit and not for her own.

Did she think he felt guilty over turning Abby? Bonnie couldn't say. Did he fear her loyalties turning towards the Mikaelsons? Very likely, although she couldn't see him saying what he had to try and convince her to not ally herself with the original vampires.

So why would he say something like that to her? Most likely, Elena had rejected him and he'd transferred his feelings to her. Damon wouldn't know what to do without someone to obsess over.

Bonnie sighed again as her alarm finally went off. She hit the button. She wasn't ready for the day. She grabbed her cell from the stand next to her clock and typed out a quick text to Caroline, telling her that she was going to skip school and not to worry, she just needed sleep. And then she rolled over and pulled the covers over her shoulders and wished she could get that sleep.

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Damon sat on his barstool at the Grille and finished his glass of bourbon. It was his...tenth? Fifteenth? He'd lost track after the first few. It took a lot of alcohol to get him drunk, but he was finally starting to feel the effects.

It wasn't the same, drinking without Alaric there to drink with him, but his friend was at work, so he was on his own. And being on his own led him to brooding. He waved to the bartender for a refill.

What on earth had possessed him to tell Bonnie he was in love with her? He took a swig from his glass as he mentally shook his head. Had he really expected that to go well?

He drained his glass and waved for another refill.

Worse than anything he'd said was the fact that Bonnie had preferred to remain in the company of Klaus and Kol Mikaelson rather than leave with him. Not that he'd given Bonnie any reason to prefer his company to that of the originals. In all actuality, he'd personally done more harm to her than the entire original family had. Still, it was galling that she'd prefer their company to his, that she would look to them for protection from him, even if it was nothing more than he deserved. That she would trust them, even like them.

He had to convince her the originals weren't the friends they were pretending to be. To convince her that he was sincere about what he'd said, that he'd do anything to prove it, that he'd do anything to make amends for the wrongs he'd committed against her.

And that was how he found himself on her doorstep not five minutes later.

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It was almost two when Bonnie pulled herself out of bed. At some point, she'd managed to get a few hours of uneasy sleep, but she hadn't awoken refreshed. She was still tired. Deciding that a shower might wake her up, she hopped into the tub and turned on the water. Afterwards, feeling a little better, she decided to take a walk.

Just as she opened the door to leave the house, she stopped dead. Damon Salvatore stood at her door, his hand raised as if he was about to knock. She was tempted to slam the door shut in his face, but for some reason, she didn't. Maybe she was hoping that he'd recant, that he'd take back what he'd said to her the previous day.

"What do you want, Damon?" she asked, getting a whiff of him as the wind changed direction. He smelled as if liquor was pouring out of his pores, which knowing him, it most likely was.

"I'm sorry," he said, breathing on her.

Bonnie cringed. He must have emptied out the wet bar at the Grille. Before she could speak, to ask him what specifically he was sorry for this time, he continued on.

"I'm sorry for snapping your mother's neck," Damon said.

Bonnie wasn't sure if Damon was drunk, but he was definitely buzzed. Despite his clearly alcohol-induced state, she sensed that he was sincere. He really was sorry for turning her mother.

"I worked so hard to gain your trust," he kept going, "and I threw it away in one stupid moment. I didn't think about the consequences at the time. I didn't think about my vow to protect your bloodline. I just did the easiest thing to do to keep Elena alive, and I never realized how much I'd come to regret that."

"It's what you've always done," Bonnie said, aware of Elena's importance to him, even at the expense of everyone around her.

"But it shouldn't have been," Damon answered, anger and despair coloring his words. He reached a hand out towards Bonnie, but it was stopped by the invisible barrier at the threshold. "I spent a lot of time chasing Katherine's ghost, and then wasting my time on Elena, when I should have been protecting you."

Bonnie gulped, uncomfortable at his words. Nope, not recanting. "Damon-"

"Look, I know it's not what you want to hear," Damon said, "but I love you, Bonnie. And I know I realized it way too late to convince you I mean it."

So, he really believed he was in love with her. Bonnie swallowed hard. "Damon, I-"

"I know I've fucked up when you seek friendship and comfort in the arms of the originals," Damon continued, cutting her off. "When you prefer their company to mine, when you trust them more than you trust me. I realized far too late that you are the only person in a hundred and seventy years, other than Stefan, to expect more from me than being just a monster. Underneath all the walls I've put up, you see the man I can be, and you make me want to be him."

Bonnie took a step, unaware that she'd passed outside the protection of the house.

"You can be him," Bonnie told him. "But you need to do it for yourself, not for me. Not for Stefan. For you."

Bonnie flinched as Damon reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, blue eyes seeking out her green ones as if asking for permission for something he knew he shouldn't ask.

"Bonnie-"

"No," she whispered, closing her eyes and taking a step back. She could hear the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

There was a pause, and Bonnie heard Damon suck in a breath. "Kol isn't any better than I am," he said. "He kills without a moment's hesitation. He's a vampire, and I'm sure he's racked up a higher body count in a thousand years than I have in my time."

Bonnie opened her eyes, angry with Damon's sudden change of mood. He'd gone from vulnerable to attacking in two seconds, and she hated being attacked. "You know nothing about it," she said, her pulse speeding up at the mention of Kol. Damon didn't know anything about the plan, and she wasn't about to let him in on the details. But it was more than that making her feel defensive. It was because she'd kissed Kol, because she found him attractive even when she knew she shouldn't, and she wasn't ready to admit it yet, especially not to Damon.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Elena and Caroline getting out of Elena's Grand Cherokee.

"I know that he's no good for you, Bonnie," Damon answered. "No matter how horrible you think I am, he's a thousand times worse."

"You need to leave," Bonnie said, feeling her temper starting to flare.

"Fine," Damon said, noticing they were no longer alone. "But don't expect me to just sit quietly by while you fall into that monster's arms."

"Go," she said, motioning for him to step back off the porch. She turned to her approaching friends.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked, rushing over to her and giving Damon a dirty look. He backed away after giving Bonnie a final, angry look, and he didn't even spare a glance for Elena as he walked off.

Bonnie nodded to Caroline as Elena stopped in front of her.

"What was that all about?" Elena asked, curious. She'd noticed Damon had been acting a little bit different for a few weeks now, since she'd told him off and had stopped hanging out with the Salvatores. He was still dedicated to his bourbon, but he'd respected her decision and words, and that wasn't like him at all.

"He came to confess his feelings for me," Bonnie answered.

"What?" Caroline burst out, unable to contain her surprise.

"Feelings?" Elena asked. "What feelings?"

"Apparently he thinks he's in love with me," Bonnie answered, and all hell broke loose. Caroline and Elena started talking at the same time, telling her just how wrong and horrible that would be. Finally, Caroline ran out of steam, but Elena kept talking, which was a mistake on her part.

"You know those feelings aren't real, right?" she asked, feeling like an expert on the subject. "Only a few weeks ago he was confessing the same thing to me."

While a part of Bonnie agreed with Elena's sentiment, it wasn't so much her words, as her tone, that irritated Bonnie, as if Damon falling for her was the last thing that would ever happen. And it wasn't that Bonnie wanted Damon's affection, but Elena's comments felt like digs anyway. There were so many things she wanted to say to Elena, none of which was nice, but she'd kept it walled up since the Salvatores had turned her mother to save her friend.

Caroline seemed to catch onto Bonnie's train of thought way before the doppelganger did. "Elena..."

"And he wasn't any more sincere then than he is now," Elena continued, undeterred.

"What makes you the expert on Damon?" Bonnie asked, finally annoyed enough to speak. "Because what he felt for you wasn't real, that means what he feels for me isn't real, either?" Once she started talking, the walls came crumbling down, and pent up words just came spilling out. "What did you say to him, anyway, to make him stop loving you?"

"I just-"

Bonnie cut her off. It wasn't just Damon who had caused her anger towards Elena. "You say that you want to keep your life separated from the supernatural, but the moment anything bad happens, you go running straight to the Salvatores, or to Elijah. If they call, you go running."

"Bonnie, that's not-"

"True?" Bonnie cut in. She was done sugarcoating the facts to keep her friend happy. "Fair? Because from where I'm standing, it's pretty accurate. "

Elena was silent.

"Why are any of us involved in the supernatural world?" Bonnie asked. "Because you invited the vampires into our lives." She knew that was almost a double standard, but her otherness was substantially different from vampirism. "Yes, I'm a witch by blood, but I don't make a mess of our lives. I spend most of my time trying to fix the messes your vampires have made of our lives." She paused to take a breath. "You keep putting everyone's lives at risk because you are involved with the Salvatores, but at the same time, you keep backpeddling when it comes to becoming a vampire to be with them. You keep saying you want to be a human and live a human life, but you spend all of your free time with vampires, including one you claim to love. And they put you on such a high pedestal that it doesn't matter who else is hurt or killed, as long as their precious Elena is safe."

"Bonnie..." Elena said, trying unsuccessfully to keep from tearing up at her best friend's harsh, if accurate, words.

"Everyone around you keeps dying to keep you human," Bonnie accused, "and you don't care, because you keep running back to them. And they keep killing everyone around you to protect you, because as a human you aren't able to protect yourself from anything supernatural."

Bonnie was starting to run out of steam, but she wasn't quite done yet. "You want to have a future with a vampire? There's only one way to do that, 'lena."

Now that she'd run out of angry words, she didn't know what to say, especially now that she'd made Elena cry. A part of her wanted to take it all back, to comfort her friend, who had clearly never given the situation any serious thought. But at the same time, she'd meant every word. Elena was a danger to everyone around her, and until she thought her actions through, she would stay a danger to them.

"I'm so sorry, Bonnie," Elena mumbled through her tears.

Bonnie fought the urge to reach out and hug her, though Caroline put a supportive hand on her arm. Elena turned around and ran back to the car. Bonnie fought back unexpected tears as she took a step forward, but Caroline caught her.

"I've got Elena," she told Bonnie. "You just gave her a huge eye-opening dose of reality, and she wasn't ready for it." She gave the witch a gentle smile. "She'll be fine. And now that you've gotten all of that off your chest, maybe you two will be able to move past the awkward, things unspoken, stage?"

Bonnie tore her gaze away from the Jeep, where Elena sat crying, and looked up at Caroline, who was calm and speaking softly. A year ago, she never would have foreseen Caroline acting as mediator for her and Elena; in fact, it had often been the other way around, with her acting as mediator between Elena and Caroline. But that had been back before Bonnie had discovered she had magic, and before Caroline was unwillingly turned into a vampire. A lifetime ago. Things were completely different now.

"Maybe," Bonnie said, guilt swelling up inside her chest. She was angry with Elena, but she hadn't meant to hurt her. She'd thought saying all those things would make her feel better, would lighten the weight that had been crushing her, but instead she felt worse.

"I'd better get her home," Caroline said, offering Bonnie a supportive smile. "See you tonight."

"Yeah," Bonnie said, watching Caroline head to the car and take over the driving duties. Elena didn't glance at Bonnie once as she switched seats. A minute later, the car pulled out of the drive, leaving Bonnie feeling truly alone.

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Kol watched as Damon entered the Boarding House. A moment later, he stood at the door. He debated knocking, but he wasn't feeling that polite, and so he just slammed through the door, smashing it off it's hinges.

Before he could reach the living room, he was slammed against the wall, Damon's hand at his throat.

"What the hell are you doing in my home?" Damon asked, snarling at Kol.

Kol squinted in the dim light of the room. Candles, he noticed, briefly glancing past Damon for a look around. Quite a few of them, but no actual lights were lit.

Damon slammed Kol back against the wall when Kol didn't answer.

Kol laughed, though inside all he felt was rage. He knew Damon hated to be disrespected, so he couldn't resist the opportunity to get under his rival's skin.

"Do you think, for one moment...," Kol shoved Damon away from him violently enough to send the other vampire flying across the room into the wall, "...that you can get the upper hand over me? I'm older, I'm stronger, I'm smarter." Kol stepped forward, pausing in front of a mirror and adjusting his shirt. "I'm better looking."

Damon raced towards Kol, but the original spotted him in the mirror and moved before Damon could catch him. Damon slammed full force into the wall, with a little help from Kol's hands.

"Apparently I'm faster, too," Kol prodded as Damon pushed himself up from the floor.

Damon's face twisted in anger. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Kol asked, shrugging. "I want to smash your face into a bloody pulp."

Damon smirked as he stood. "This is about Bonnie, isn't it?"

Kol didn't speak, but he felt himself scowling, answering the younger vampire's question without saying a word.

"She's too good for you, you know," Damon said, circling the room, edging around to the wet bar, where he picked up his partially full glass of bourbon. He took a swig, never taking his eyes off Kol.

"I've never harmed her," Kol answered. "You hurt her every time you interact." Damon's eyebrows drew together, and Kol smirked. "She will never choose you, no matter how much you try to convince her I'm no good for her."

Kol couldn't possibly know how much his words cut Damon, as no one had ever chosen him, and the Salvatore buried his hurt in a display of anger. He raced across the room, finally managing to grab Kol. He threw the original into the wall next to the window, knocking over a pair of candles in the impact.

"Stay away from her," Damon growled, slamming into Kol, who shoved him away. They faced off and hit each other, grappling for a better hold. Neither noticed as the curtains began to smolder.

They threw each other around for a couple of minutes, neither gaining an upper hand, as the curtains began to smoke, and then as flames licked up towards the ceiling and across the walls, gaining momentum as Damon slammed into the window, shattering it and catching his back on fire as oxygen gushed into the room. The flames roared.

Damon dropped to the floor, rolling to put the flames on his back out.

The distraction was all Kol needed to gain the advantage. He grabbed the nearest end table and smashed it into Damon's head, and then he was on him, slamming the black-haired vampire's skull against the floor over and over, unaware of the passage of time, until he felt all fight go out of the Salvatore. A glance around him showed the fire now had a strong hold on the room, the ceiling was beginning to disintegrate, the walls were burning, and smoke was starting to gather, so thick he was lucky he didn't need oxygen to breathe.

It was time for Kol to go. He glanced down at Damon, who groaned. That wouldn't do. He reached down and snapped Damon's neck.

And then Kol walked out of the burning Salvatore Boarding House and sped off into the night.

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