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[SCA] The Anchor
Title: The Anchor
Fandoms: DC Comics + The Vampire Diaries + Wizards of Waverly Place crossover (with mentions of High School Musical)
Universe: Sharpay's Crossover Adventure
Relationship: Tom Bronson / Bonnie Bennett; implied Tompay; implied Bamon
Summary: Before Tom dates Sharpay, he might've accidentally kissed the girl he was supposed to protect. Problem? A centuries-old vampire might be head-over-heels for her too.
Notes: This fic's been on the backburner for a while, and I honestly don't know if it's canonical. :|b I've wanted to introduce Damon & Bonnie, ever since I realized Jusliet could easily crossover with TVD. I also didn't want it to interfere with what we had, so it's self-contained too.
When you were a superhero, rarely a day of peace landed in your lap. Just when you had settled into a groove with your data set analysis, Justin had to call you on urgent business. "This is far, far bigger than typical Shadowpact stuff," he'd said over the phone breathlessly - a first for him. "How soon can you come?"
You hadn't wasted a second. Telling Karen's secretary that you had a Thing (she just rolled her eyes at you, because you knew that she knew that your Thing was saving the world), you trekked down to the Waverly Place Sub Station. You could run faster than most cabs, and you really didn't trust the train to arrive on time.
The second you arrived, you made a beeline for the back door, ignoring Max ("Hey! Tommy bro, you can't just bust in the--- oh okay, you're doing that Thing where you're not listening to me, that's cool too, man.") as you entered Justin's Lair. You saw Justin seated in the center of the room, with candles spread evenly across a table.
The girl seated across from him looked unfamiliar. You might've seen her in some of Justin's photos, but you couldn't remember her name. She sure was gorgeous, though, with beautiful curly black hair and piercing green eyes that, if you were stuck in a crappy YA novel, would've stared straight into your soul.
Justin opened one eye as he lazily looked up at you. "Took you long enough."
You folded your arms. "Yeah, well, you did call in the middle of a work day." The girl giggled, and you tried your best to smother the smile that was appearing across your face. "What's up?"
"You're met Bonnie before, right?" Not really. "She's my dad's best friend's daughter. Normally, she's at Columbia, but over the summer, she just became the Anchor. That's the thing that holds up the veil for supernatural purgatory."
You raised an eyebrow. If the Anchor - the one responsible for the portal between the world of the dead and the world of the living - was standing in front of you, then how was she faring? Was anyone planning on kidnapping her so that they could utilize her powers for evil? The scenarios kept racing through your head faster and faster, until Justin had to finally snap his fingers in your face.
"Basically," Justin continued once he'd gotten your attention. "I need you here to keep her safe. I don't know how her powers work, and until we can figure something out, I don't want her roaming around power-less."
Bonnie folded her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him. "That wasn't what you told me."
"No, but you'd never listen if I had mentioned it." Justin sighed, running his hand down his face. "Come on, Bon, Tom's one of the good guys."
You grinned, briefly allowing your eyes to glow yellow. "Yeah. I can keep Bonnie with me, no problem. But you really don't know how the Anchor-thing works?"
Figures. The one time Justin couldn't explain magical mumbo-jumbo, you actually wanted the full story. Normally, you paid attention on a need-to-know basis: any more, and you just confused yourself. Magic was intricate, far beyond the simplified system you used in tabletop RP, and you had only just begun to grasp the gist of it. The Anchor must be ridiculously complicated, if even Justin didn't know how it functioned.
Bonnie winced, lurching over and clutching her stomach tightly. "No, don't!" She screamed, as Justin rushed to her side and applied a healing spell to her forehead. "That makes it worse!"
"Uh." You stared blankly at her. "What just happened?"
"Every..." Bonnie stopped to catch her breath. "Every time someone supernatural dies in this city, I feel their pain. They have to pass through me to reach the Other Side."
Shit. You and Justin exchanged nervous glances, before you awkwardly said, "By supernatural, do you... mean anyone with powers? Of any kind?"
Bonnie nodded, unable to look up at you.
Okay, so if Batman died, he wouldn't be in supernatural purgatory, but you doubted that even the Other Side could contain thatlunatic man for long. Death sure hadn't held Jason down- though now that you thought about it, you had never asked Jason about the years that you had spent apart from him. If Jason remembered the Other Side, it would negate the 'supernatural powers' clause that Bonnie had just stipulated. It would also explain how he had easily slipped back into the world of the living, without the fanfare or difficulties that usually followed such an ordeal.
Reaching for the phone, you let your fingers hover over his name in your contact list. If Justin had asked you to protect Bonnie - to shield her from pain - you didn't think you could stop people from dying. You were good, but you weren't that good.
As if he could read your mind, Justin said softly, "I don't need you to go above and beyond, Tom. Just keep her at your place while Alex, Jaime, and I figure some stuff out."
"You're not asking Max?"
Justin just shot you a look. "I can't. He's been busy with bettering the shop - and it's not my place to ask him to enter this world again." There was an unspoken guilt that permeated each word. You had never gotten the full story about how Max had lost his magic, and you suspected you were never going to.
Out of respect for Justin - though mainly Peyton's friendship with Justin - you didn't question him further. Instead, you merely glanced at Bonnie and gestured towards the door.
"You ready to head out?" Theoretically, you still had half a work day to finish, but you had already bailed on your boss. Karen would understand, especially if you were entrusted with guarding someone this powerful. (What did people with non-hero bosses do? Lie their asses off until they inevitably got the pink slip?)
Bonnie sighed, furrowing her brow as she observed Justin. "As ready as I'll ever be."
At this hour, Sharpay was shopping with some friend of a friend; Jason wouldn't be in the country for a month; Maxine had an upcoming lab exam; and Peyton was working on a film shoot. None of the usual suspects would question your new guest, and right now, you preferred it this way. As you unlocked the door and stepped inside, Bonnie followed you in, gazing up at the ceiling and - unfortunately - at the gaping hole near your living room.
"What happened there?"
You shrugged nonchalantly. "A caveman tried to kill my dad. I might've tossed him into oncoming traffic."
Bonnie bit on her lip to prevent herself from laughing. The effort was mostly in vain. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die," you had responded with a laugh. "Of course, it happened years ago. I just haven't repaired it yet."
Mostly because every time you tried, something even more ridiculous had prevented you from calling the contractors. At this point, Sharpay had insisted "it had character," and you figured, when this place became a JSA Museum or something, it would be a tourist attraction. Right now, it just made heating the brownstone difficult.
Bonnie's shoulders sagged with relief as you headed into the kitchen with her. Reaching for two mugs and your collection of tea, you asked, "So do you want some tea? Cookies? Coffee?"
She sat on the nearest couch, leaning back and staring at the pictures framed on your wall. "I'm okay, thank you."
"Suit yourself," you said, warming up the tea kettle as you reached for your usual blend.
While you still hadn't fully kicked the alcohol, you were attempting to drink less. Most of your friends couldn't kick back beer with you, and you had spent too many nights babysitting them to appreciate the light buzz that accompanied you for the rest of the night. (Damn your fast metabolism. Though it did make for some hilarious blackmail down the road.)
"Okay, fine, I'll have what you're having."
"Now that's more like it!" Once you brewed the tea, you handed her a mug along with the sugar and a stirrer. Bonnie even slouched, after she had accepted the mug and added all the sugar she wanted.
Sharpay had once said that you knew how to make people feel at home, because "That's just the kind of person you are, Tommy." You had to admit, you just assumed everyone knew how to host a guest. It was the first lesson Mom had ever taught you, before she'd even shipped you off to Hebrew school with the neighbors.
Bonnie leaned forward, blowing on her tea and sipping it. "It's really good," she said, her blissful face saying what her lips wouldn't.
"I'm glad." Now you took a seat next to her, sipping on your own mug. "So how do you and Justin know each other?" You figured you had just heard him wrong, and there was a pretty simple story to them.
Bonnie clarified, "He's my mother's best friend's son."
Oh. Nope. You'd definitely heard Justin right - did everyone in your life know each other through some tiny web that intersected with one another? Sharpay and Peyton had had the same ridiculous connection, and you wondered who would be next. Would Maxine's parents somehow know Mimi's? Elena - Peyton's own aunt - had worked with Chloe, and that somehow had tainted your memory of Nathan Drake. You knew Nate and Chloe were older than you. You just hadn't figured they had a good decade on you.
Your face must've been priceless, because Bonnie laughed loudly, trying to muffle it unsuccessfully with her hand. "We're old childhood friends too. Every summer, my dad would take me up here to meet with Justin and Alex, and I'd hang out with them all the time. Justin just likes being complicated."
Now that you could understand. Justin Russo almost never took the easy way out, even when it would be more beneficial in the long run.
"Of course," you started to say.
"--Because being easy would be too easy," you and Bonnie both finished in an eerie unison. You exchanged knowing looks with her before you both burst into laughter.
"Sorry he dragged you into this, by the way." Bonnie brushed her hair back, looking at you thoughtfully. "When he said his friend was coming, I didn't think he'd make you protect me or anything that stupid."
"If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't." Plus, it was part of your job description. You were a hero through and through, and heroes protected people, regardless of the request. "Justin never mentioned you, though. Shame he's keeping such a pretty girl from the rest of us."
Bonnie flushed, nearly hiding her face behind her hair. "Okay, now you've just gotta be messing with me."
"Not really." This was New York; you were practically tripping over beautiful girls with every step you took. There was something different - something striking - about Bonnie's beauty, and you couldn't quite place your finger on it. "Your boyfriend's one lucky guy."
"Oh, uh... I don't exactly have one right now."
You winced. "Sorry. I had no idea."
So you weren't exactly in the dating game either. Between Chloe and the other girls you met at bars, you didn't need a long-term girlfriend. Sure, you thought you loved Maxine. That was before you woke up to your true feelings, buried deep beneath that initial layer of infatuation. You loved her, but you had never been in love with her.
She deserved someone that wasn't you, and you really needed to crush on girls who could handle your lifestyle. (Maxine wouldn't have lasted an evening and you both knew it.)
"College kind of killed my social life," she said with a laugh. "It's no big deal. So uh, you're a hero? Honest-to-god type?"
You nodded, holding out your arm and allowing it to shift briefly into full-werepanther form. Over the years, you had slowly learned to control your shape, so that now you could shift parts of your body to reveal your other (and much more naked) form.
"Wildcat the Third," you said proudly. (Yolanda would've smacked you if you had dared to forget her impact.) "I've been part of the JSA for a while." Instinctively, you glanced around for signs of Peyton or his camera, before you realized that he was still at his film shoot.
You had grown so accustomed to little white lies that this honesty - this ability to fully revel in your powers - overwhelmed you. Bonnie must've noticed, because she reached over and lightly stroked your fur. "It's okay. I'm not scared of heroes or anything."
Good, because she was kind of stuck with one until Justin uncovered a cure or something groundbreaking.
"That's... nevermind." You shook your head. "So how come? Were you part of the Shadowpact?"
"Kind of." Bonnie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That's why I came to New York to study. Someone from my town helped found the Shadowpact, and I wanted to learn about them and why someone would do such a thing."
"Do you know who?"
"I wish. He used a codename, so I don't even have a picture to go off on." She sighed. "I figure, once we get the Anchor thing sorted out, I can hunt Mystery Man down and get some answers."
You half-missed this, being able to talk superhero stuff with someone who understood the nuances of that world. Jason resided more with the criminals, while Maxine was still getting her feet wet (and to an extent, you wanted to shield her). Bonnie had not only seen the world but she knew the consequences behind every action.
If she was here to uncover the founder of Shadowpact - someone who would undoubtedly still be alive today (as most magicians lived close to forever) - then you felt obligated to help. Even if you weren't protecting her from potential supervillains.
"So where are you from?" You finally ventured to ask. "If Mystery Man lived in your town, then it's gotta be big, right?"
"I'm from this super tiny town in Virginia. Most people've never heard of it, so I just say I'm an hour away from Richmond." You gestured for her to elaborate, so she said, "It's called Mystic Falls. You'd think Mystery Guy wouldn't be able to hide, when our population's 6,500, but he's been eluding me for years."
"Is it one of those supernatural small towns?"
Bonnie smiled wryly at you. "I'm amazed. You're the first to catch onto that."
With a name like Mystic Falls, it wasn't exactly hiding its supernatural heritage. You were frankly more surprised when some no-name town made the news for blood pacts, or when a place like 'Haven' had shady supernatural occurrences more often than said supernatural small towns. You shrugged, finishing off your tea. "People just aren't listening."
"I guess not." Her face grew more distant as she looked into her mug. Something about home must've struck a nerve, because for a few seconds, neither of you spoke, until you stood up and got some cookies for you to share.
When she stared at them skeptically, you had said, "If you're the portal, I think you can eat whatever the hell you want." Death wasn't exactly a stranger to her anymore, and when a girl was on first-name terms with it, she really didn't need to diet.
She just snorted at you, setting her mug down.
You scooted closer to her, holding out the cookie as a peace offering. When she still wouldn't accept, you waved it in her face and-- And she leaned in and kissed you.
Damn. You'd never worked this fast before. You could feel your heart rate spiking dangerously as she gently wrapped her arms around your neck. So maybe you weren't dating Sharpay yet, but you were pretty sure you couldn't keep the Anchor as a girlfriend.
When she let go, you said, "Uh."
"Sorry." She blushed, scooting away from you. "I just... I haven't had someone be this honest with me in a long time. Especially a white guy."
You smiled sheepishly at her. Maxine usually shied away from race jokes, but Mimi had lovingly called you her favorite white boy. Even at the JSA, you were still the only white guy among your peers. The old guys didn't count, and Rick wasn't part of your generation, considering he was married with kids. Bonnie's town must've been super white, for her to express this with trepidation.
"Maybe they should be," you said, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. "You deserve someone who gets you. All of you."
Only when her face turned redder did you catch the implications of what you had just said. You opened your mouth to clarify, when your phone impatiently buzzed. "Hello?"
"Tom, is Bonnie still with you?" Justin's voice was dry and almost hoarse.
"Yeah." You furrowed your brow. "What's up?"
"I think we've got something. Can you.. can you just keep her overnight? I need to double-check this with some of the other members of Shadowpact. I might have an answer, but it's a long-shot."
If he was going to work with the other members, there was no better time to ask, "Hey, Justin? Can you do me a favor?"
"Um, can it wait?"
"Not really. Do you know the founders of Shadowpact?"
"Kinda. Only one of them's still alive," Justin said slowly, as if the pieces were slowly clicking into place. "Tom, I can't give you his identity. I promised him I wouldn't."
Now that was unusual. You scratched your cheek. "How come? Is he super shady or something?"
"Let's... let's just say that he doesn't want Bonnie to think of him differently, because he was an active hero in the 40's instead of loitering around like he made everyone else think he was."
Whoever this founder was, he sure sounded like Jason. You didn't understand those brooding boys, who insisted on hiding their good deeds beneath a veneer of bravado and sarcasm. Sure, girls loved "bad boys" in theory. Yet those same girls always ditched them for you, once you confessed to your love for cats and children's animation. Girls wanted to make out with bad boys, but they wanted to go home with a guy that their parents would love.
If this guy didn't trust Bonnie enough with his secrets, then maybe he needed to grow up a little.
You sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Fine, I guess. Thanks for the total lack of help."
"My hands are tied, Bronson. Sorry." Justin was silent for a moment, before he quietly added, "If I were to say something more, I'd say that he's only hiding it because he cares for her. He doesn't want her wrapped up in this any more than I do." Without another word, Justin hung up, leaving Bonnie to stare wordlessly at you.
"You didn't have to ask him. I've already tried multiple times."
"It was worth a shot." Justin had also openly admitted to this founder - whoever he was - liking Bonnie. That should've narrowed down the pool of people significantly, except Bonnie was a pretty damn likeable person. Nearly anyone from her hometown could've fit the bill.
She smiled gratefully at you. "It's okay. I'll hunt him down myself, once we figure out how to transfer my power to something else. I miss my magic." So that's how she fully knew Justin. They haunted the same magic hangouts, and you were willing to bet that they even swapped spells like your mom swapped Hanukkah cookies.
"Good luck," you said sincerely. "I'm no use once you start talking about magic. I mean, I play D&D, but that's not even close to accurate."
"You're probably the first hero I've met who's publicly admitted to playing it," Bonnie said with a giggle.
"Then you clearly haven't been hanging around enough of us." You laughed, thinking back to your last game with Kyle, Jaime, and Jason. Sometimes, Billy, Courtney, and Maxine crashed your games and demanded to play, but your Guys Night In usually revolved back to tabletop and copious amounts of beer.
When your lives could end precariously, you tended to indulge in the little things that wouldn't risk your safety. It gave you some sense of peace, something to make you feel a little more human because you weren't out there endangering your neck. Or, as Jason had once put it, "Only we would have a tabletop game about ordinary people doing ordinary things." (Some nights, you just needed a game that revolved around people trying to ask their dates to prom.)
"Clearly," she agreed softly, her gaze falling down to your lips. You pretended not to notice, even as you reached for the remote and turned the TV on.
Before you knew what you were doing, you had moved closer and kissed her again. A knock at the door interrupted you, and you were half-tempted to just ignore it and continue to explore your newest friend. Bonnie's entire body had tensed as you lightly kissed her neck, then her shoulders, then...
The knock just kept getting louder.
You sighed dramatically, rising to your feet and tugging your shirt back on. The second you opened the door, you were greeted by a tall, dark-haired man who could've given Dick Grayson (and Jason, frankly) a run for his money with crystal-clear blue eyes. You noticed his furrowed brow and his tense shoulders far earlier than you noticed his all-black attire and the ornate ring around his finger.
"I'm here to see Bonnie," the man said curtly, giving you a disgusted scowl. "Seems you're already well-acquainted with her."
You folded her arms. "And you would be?"
Justin had specifically told you to protect her, and if strange men wanted to seize her, well - they would have to go through you first.
"Damon," he said simply, craning his neck to get a better look at your apartment. "Bonnie'll know who I am."
"Not good enough." You stood up straighter, now scrutinizing him carefully. You sure didn't recognize him from the JSA files - and if he was a Neo-Nazi, he would've cared more about you and your Jewish heritage than Bonnie. Was he an enemy of Shadowpact? You'd never seen their files, so anyone could be a threat. "How do you know her?"
Damon laughed hollowly. "You don't need to know that."
From the back of your apartment, Bonnie screeched in pain. You both instinctively turned your heads, and only you ran towards her. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Damon hold his arm at your threshold - and you could see him scowl at you from behind the door.
"M-make it stop," she said, curling up into the fetal position on your couch. Justin said that healing spells wouldn't help, and you couldn't exactly cram cookies down her throat...
"Bonnie!" Damon called, banging his hands furiously against the invisible forcefield that had mysteriously formed in your doorway. "Bonnie, can you hear me?"
"Ugh, you invited Damon?" Bonnie scowled at you. "Of all the people to follow me from home..."
"I didn't." You blinked, turning back to look at him. "You know him? He's not out to kill you?"
Damon let out a half-amused, half-appalled squawk, just as Bonnie burst into laughter.
"Oh god no." Bonnie said, her lips curling up into a faint imitation of a smile as she clutched her stomach. "He's... he's his own category."
"So what is he?"
"Your friendly neighborhood vampire," Damon said, his stance relaxing slightly as he leaned against the invisible forcefield. "Now can you please let me in, Bronson? Ted and Alan would've never approved of leaving a guest in the cold. It's not very heroic, you know."
You squinted at him. "You know my dad?"
Damon flinched. "Uh, I..."
Now Bonnie glanced at you, then at Damon, before she slowly sat up and pulled a blanket around her. "Now I've gotta hear this. How do you know Tom's dad?"
"We might've run in the same circle, once upon a time," Damon said slowly, as you moved towards him cautiously. "It's not something I'm proud of."
Why, because Dad beat this skinny vampire up? Did Dad even know vampires back in the day? So many questions, so little time to answer them all - and judging from Damon's suddenly stiff stance, you weren't going to get the proper ones. Unfortunately, Bonnie was far too stunned to call him out on his lie.
"You're really not out to kill her?"
"Of course not," Damon re-iterated, now scoffing at you with a disgusted glare. "I've got better things to do than hurt the Bennett girl."
His language had soured with each word. You didn't know him - but you sure knew guys like him, guys who refused to openly admit just how much the girl sitting across the room mattered to them. Damon really wouldn't lay a finger on her, and you were starting to suspect that you knew why, if he came all the way here from Virginia.
"Why, because Justin told you that he might've found a way to transfer her power to someone else?" You said almost inaudibly, knowing that Damon would hear whatever Bonnie couldn't.
Damon's eyes widened as he mouthed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You helped found the Shadowpact. That's why you know Dad and Uncle Alan, and that's why you're here to see Bonnie."
Damon folded his arms. "Now why would I do such a thing? I don't care much for human life."
You couldn't quite hide the smile on your face, though for Damon's (shallow) ego, you turned so that Bonnie couldn't see it. "Same reason I agreed to protect her, I imagine."
Thank god for that threshold. Damon swung at your jaw, only for you to neatly step inside and dodge the blow.
"Damon, what are you doing?" Bonnie rose from the couch, draping the blanket around her as she stepped closer.
Damon shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Making sure this creep gets what he deserves."
You supposed there was a first time for every insult. "Says the guy who won't actually tell her how he feels," you called in return, reaching for your phone.
Dad had already texted you back,
Damon's in town?? I haven't seen that scamp since 1950. does he have grandkids yet
You didn't have the heart to type back, vampires can't have kids.
It seemed cruel, when Damon's eyes softened at the mere sight of Bonnie, and when his hand reached out to touch her and brush her hair out of her bangs. This idiot loved her, and Bonnie was too oblivious to notice. Just as Maxine had been oblivious to your (gigantic) crush on her, instead returning Peyton's fledgling affection.
"Tom's not a creep," Bonnie insisted, still keeping the blanket around her as she stared straight into Damon's eyes.
(Un)Surprisingly, he shrunk back from her. "Then why does he smell like you?"
"Because I'm in his house?" Bonnie shot him a disgusted look. "Ugh, does everything always turn back to sex with you?"
Damon merely smirked in response, though it was a thin one. His eyes had already hardened - and you had fought enough battles to realize that he was preparing for something big. "Elena wanted you to come home," he said patiently, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm just the delivery guy."
Only an idiot would believe that he was doing this for someone else - though for Peyton's sake, you hoped this wasn't his Aunt Elena. (Weren't they both from small towns?) Bonnie clung to the blanket tightly, nearly burying herself in it.
"Elena can wait. Justin asked me to stay here with Tom--"
"And I'm here to relieve the kid from his duty."
If Damon weren't a vampire, you would've made a face at him - except you still were, because Damon looked your age, and you really didn't call your peers kid.
"By what, killing him?" Bonnie frowned at him. "Let's not and say we did."
Wait. Bonnie hadn't clued Damon into how her powers worked? Maybe they were both oblivious to their feelings. If so, you were so better off not interfering. Dad had once said that you too had nine lives. This wasn't how you wanted to discover an untapped ability - or worse, one you didn't actually have.
You snorted, trying to keep your voice light as you said, "I don't want to tour the Other Side, so I think I'll pass."
Damon just sighed at you in response. "I'm not stupid enough to kill my host, Bonnie." There was a light desperation in his voice, an unspoken plea you couldn't quite ignore.
You were so going to regret this in the morning, and yet - and yet you heard yourself saying, "Damon, you can come in. Clearly you're not leaving anytime soon."
If the others returned anytime soon - Peyton had the worst timing in the world - you didn't want to explain to them why you had suddenly left a stranger in the cold. Considering you had once taken in a homeless girl off the street, you didn't exactly have a reputation for distrusting strangers. Even if he had once heroed it up with Dad and Uncle Alan.
Damon crossed the threshold, just as Bonnie sighed and turned back towards the kitchen. You braced yourself for another punch or some kind of assault, but he merely gave you a nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you."
You must've heard him wrong. Bonnie surely didn't hear him, because she was calmly pouring tea as if nothing had happened. You tilted your head at him. "You're... welcome?"
"I mean it. You didn't have to let me in."
Yeah, well, you didn't exactly want him exacerbating Bonnie's pain either, no matter how much he loved her.
Damon continued quietly - so quietly you almost had to strain to hear him, and you had superhearing, "Don't tell Bonnie about my role in Shadowpact. Even if I told her, I don't think she'd believe me."
Hell, you still couldn't fully believe it. Justin willingly collaborated with someone like Damon? Scratch that, Justin trusted Damon? You knew better to not judge books by their covers, and even this threw you off. Sure, you could see him throwing back beer with Dad, and even Uncle Jay if you squinted, but he seemed too carefree and rebellious to sit down and study spellbooks with Justin. This guy could've never formed a supernatural superhero team. Except, according to Justin, he had, and he was standing right in front of you with the solemnity you expected from such a leader.
Leather jackets always were deceiving that way.
"Some day, you'll have to tell her yourself," you said just as softly. "Otherwise, she'll be looking for her mystery guy for quite a while."
"Good." Damon's throat tightened. "I don't deserve someone like her anyways."
Then, more loudly, he yelled, "Judgey! Hey, Judgey! Don't think you can just leave me out in the cold like that?" as he sauntered over to Bonnie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Bonnie just glared at him, lightly pulling his arm off her before she sipped her tea again.
As you were wondering just how you were going to explain this all to Sharpay, she waltzed through the back door with her shopping bags. She only took one look at Damon before she narrowed her eyes at you and snarled, "Salvatore."
"Evans." Damon smiled thinly, trying again to lean against Bonnie. "How nice to see you so soon."
You stared at her quizzically, because you were usually the one who knew everyone, before Sharpay elaborated, "We met earlier in the Sub Station. He was the asshole who stole my lunch because he was apparently more important than me."
Damon's eyes twinkled with amusement, and you bit on your tongue to keep from laughing. Sharpay must've not noticed, because she continued, "I can't believe you invited him over! I don't care if he's some old friend of your waiter, he doesn't deserve your kindness." What you wouldn't have given to have Peyton here instead, because at least Peyton would've been scared shitless by a vampire.
Calmly, Damon stared straight into her eyes. "I didn't steal your lunch."
It must've been some Jedi mind trick - or an attempt at one, because Sharpay screeched incoherently at him. "Suuuure you didn't. You just had to take the only bottle of tomato juice?"
"Uh, Shar..." You coughed. "I don't think it was tomato juice."
"What, now you're on his side?"
"No, but..." You mimicked fangs. "He's spending the night here with my friend Bonnie until we get some stuff sorted out." Carefully, you stepped back, half-expecting a punch from her.
Sharpay just stared, first at you, then at Damon, then at you before she just said, "My neck is off-limits."
Damon's face actually turned red, just as Bonnie buried her face in Damon's shoulder. Sharpay's eyes caught yours, and you two unsuccessfully tried to hide your laughter. You figured, as long as Damon tried to play nice, you could host him for the night.
Thankfully, no one dared to attack your brownstone at strange hours. In fact, the neighborhood was the quietest it had been in weeks. Around one AM, your hearing heard footsteps, followed by the quiet sound of someone licking his fingers.
You could see Damon's figure retreating into another spare room, along with the blood dripping onto his shirt. If he was why the neighborhood remained quiet, you really didn't want his blood on your conscience. Before you could question him, Damon had disappeared again.
Justin called you in the morning with good news, after Damon had returned with groceries and made the apartment scrambled eggs and hash browns.
"We can transfer her power to a less-sentient Anchor," Justin had said with a yawn. (The poor guy must've gotten no sleep, and judging from the dark circles around Damon's eyes, Damon must've offered to help.) "Damon said he could bring her to my Lair, so you don't have to help anymore."
"It was no problem. Hey, and Justin?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time, maybe you could've told me her..." You paused, knowing full well that Damon was eavesdropping on your conversation. "You could've been more blatant about it."
"It's not like I knew he'd drop by and visit," Justin had said with a groan. "Tell him I said hi."
The second you hung up, Damon just shook his head sadly at you. "Justin can't keep a secret to save his life."
Nah: if he could keep something this big from Bonnie, you figured he could protect something with his life. He certainly hadn't wanted to break Bonnie's heart, and you weren't quite so keen on it either.
You weren't exactly a talented liar, so Damon's expression softened as he said, "I'd be more honest with her if I thought I deserved her praise. As it is... hey, Mystery Guy's a pretty handsome dude."
You snorted. "If that lets you sleep at night."
"If what lets you sleep?" Bonnie asked, descending the stairs with her luggage.
"That's what she said," Damon replied cheekily, holding the door open for her as they headed into their cab. Bonnie elbowed him. Hard.
As you watched them leave, you sighed with relief.
So maybe you didn't deal with Shadowpact stuff often, but hey, at least your work was never boring.
Fandoms: DC Comics + The Vampire Diaries + Wizards of Waverly Place crossover (with mentions of High School Musical)
Universe: Sharpay's Crossover Adventure
Relationship: Tom Bronson / Bonnie Bennett; implied Tompay; implied Bamon
Summary: Before Tom dates Sharpay, he might've accidentally kissed the girl he was supposed to protect. Problem? A centuries-old vampire might be head-over-heels for her too.
Notes: This fic's been on the backburner for a while, and I honestly don't know if it's canonical. :|b I've wanted to introduce Damon & Bonnie, ever since I realized Jusliet could easily crossover with TVD. I also didn't want it to interfere with what we had, so it's self-contained too.
When you were a superhero, rarely a day of peace landed in your lap. Just when you had settled into a groove with your data set analysis, Justin had to call you on urgent business. "This is far, far bigger than typical Shadowpact stuff," he'd said over the phone breathlessly - a first for him. "How soon can you come?"
You hadn't wasted a second. Telling Karen's secretary that you had a Thing (she just rolled her eyes at you, because you knew that she knew that your Thing was saving the world), you trekked down to the Waverly Place Sub Station. You could run faster than most cabs, and you really didn't trust the train to arrive on time.
The second you arrived, you made a beeline for the back door, ignoring Max ("Hey! Tommy bro, you can't just bust in the--- oh okay, you're doing that Thing where you're not listening to me, that's cool too, man.") as you entered Justin's Lair. You saw Justin seated in the center of the room, with candles spread evenly across a table.
The girl seated across from him looked unfamiliar. You might've seen her in some of Justin's photos, but you couldn't remember her name. She sure was gorgeous, though, with beautiful curly black hair and piercing green eyes that, if you were stuck in a crappy YA novel, would've stared straight into your soul.
Justin opened one eye as he lazily looked up at you. "Took you long enough."
You folded your arms. "Yeah, well, you did call in the middle of a work day." The girl giggled, and you tried your best to smother the smile that was appearing across your face. "What's up?"
"You're met Bonnie before, right?" Not really. "She's my dad's best friend's daughter. Normally, she's at Columbia, but over the summer, she just became the Anchor. That's the thing that holds up the veil for supernatural purgatory."
You raised an eyebrow. If the Anchor - the one responsible for the portal between the world of the dead and the world of the living - was standing in front of you, then how was she faring? Was anyone planning on kidnapping her so that they could utilize her powers for evil? The scenarios kept racing through your head faster and faster, until Justin had to finally snap his fingers in your face.
"Basically," Justin continued once he'd gotten your attention. "I need you here to keep her safe. I don't know how her powers work, and until we can figure something out, I don't want her roaming around power-less."
Bonnie folded her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him. "That wasn't what you told me."
"No, but you'd never listen if I had mentioned it." Justin sighed, running his hand down his face. "Come on, Bon, Tom's one of the good guys."
You grinned, briefly allowing your eyes to glow yellow. "Yeah. I can keep Bonnie with me, no problem. But you really don't know how the Anchor-thing works?"
Figures. The one time Justin couldn't explain magical mumbo-jumbo, you actually wanted the full story. Normally, you paid attention on a need-to-know basis: any more, and you just confused yourself. Magic was intricate, far beyond the simplified system you used in tabletop RP, and you had only just begun to grasp the gist of it. The Anchor must be ridiculously complicated, if even Justin didn't know how it functioned.
Bonnie winced, lurching over and clutching her stomach tightly. "No, don't!" She screamed, as Justin rushed to her side and applied a healing spell to her forehead. "That makes it worse!"
"Uh." You stared blankly at her. "What just happened?"
"Every..." Bonnie stopped to catch her breath. "Every time someone supernatural dies in this city, I feel their pain. They have to pass through me to reach the Other Side."
Shit. You and Justin exchanged nervous glances, before you awkwardly said, "By supernatural, do you... mean anyone with powers? Of any kind?"
Bonnie nodded, unable to look up at you.
Okay, so if Batman died, he wouldn't be in supernatural purgatory, but you doubted that even the Other Side could contain that
Reaching for the phone, you let your fingers hover over his name in your contact list. If Justin had asked you to protect Bonnie - to shield her from pain - you didn't think you could stop people from dying. You were good, but you weren't that good.
As if he could read your mind, Justin said softly, "I don't need you to go above and beyond, Tom. Just keep her at your place while Alex, Jaime, and I figure some stuff out."
"You're not asking Max?"
Justin just shot you a look. "I can't. He's been busy with bettering the shop - and it's not my place to ask him to enter this world again." There was an unspoken guilt that permeated each word. You had never gotten the full story about how Max had lost his magic, and you suspected you were never going to.
Out of respect for Justin - though mainly Peyton's friendship with Justin - you didn't question him further. Instead, you merely glanced at Bonnie and gestured towards the door.
"You ready to head out?" Theoretically, you still had half a work day to finish, but you had already bailed on your boss. Karen would understand, especially if you were entrusted with guarding someone this powerful. (What did people with non-hero bosses do? Lie their asses off until they inevitably got the pink slip?)
Bonnie sighed, furrowing her brow as she observed Justin. "As ready as I'll ever be."
At this hour, Sharpay was shopping with some friend of a friend; Jason wouldn't be in the country for a month; Maxine had an upcoming lab exam; and Peyton was working on a film shoot. None of the usual suspects would question your new guest, and right now, you preferred it this way. As you unlocked the door and stepped inside, Bonnie followed you in, gazing up at the ceiling and - unfortunately - at the gaping hole near your living room.
"What happened there?"
You shrugged nonchalantly. "A caveman tried to kill my dad. I might've tossed him into oncoming traffic."
Bonnie bit on her lip to prevent herself from laughing. The effort was mostly in vain. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die," you had responded with a laugh. "Of course, it happened years ago. I just haven't repaired it yet."
Mostly because every time you tried, something even more ridiculous had prevented you from calling the contractors. At this point, Sharpay had insisted "it had character," and you figured, when this place became a JSA Museum or something, it would be a tourist attraction. Right now, it just made heating the brownstone difficult.
Bonnie's shoulders sagged with relief as you headed into the kitchen with her. Reaching for two mugs and your collection of tea, you asked, "So do you want some tea? Cookies? Coffee?"
She sat on the nearest couch, leaning back and staring at the pictures framed on your wall. "I'm okay, thank you."
"Suit yourself," you said, warming up the tea kettle as you reached for your usual blend.
While you still hadn't fully kicked the alcohol, you were attempting to drink less. Most of your friends couldn't kick back beer with you, and you had spent too many nights babysitting them to appreciate the light buzz that accompanied you for the rest of the night. (Damn your fast metabolism. Though it did make for some hilarious blackmail down the road.)
"Okay, fine, I'll have what you're having."
"Now that's more like it!" Once you brewed the tea, you handed her a mug along with the sugar and a stirrer. Bonnie even slouched, after she had accepted the mug and added all the sugar she wanted.
Sharpay had once said that you knew how to make people feel at home, because "That's just the kind of person you are, Tommy." You had to admit, you just assumed everyone knew how to host a guest. It was the first lesson Mom had ever taught you, before she'd even shipped you off to Hebrew school with the neighbors.
Bonnie leaned forward, blowing on her tea and sipping it. "It's really good," she said, her blissful face saying what her lips wouldn't.
"I'm glad." Now you took a seat next to her, sipping on your own mug. "So how do you and Justin know each other?" You figured you had just heard him wrong, and there was a pretty simple story to them.
Bonnie clarified, "He's my mother's best friend's son."
Oh. Nope. You'd definitely heard Justin right - did everyone in your life know each other through some tiny web that intersected with one another? Sharpay and Peyton had had the same ridiculous connection, and you wondered who would be next. Would Maxine's parents somehow know Mimi's? Elena - Peyton's own aunt - had worked with Chloe, and that somehow had tainted your memory of Nathan Drake. You knew Nate and Chloe were older than you. You just hadn't figured they had a good decade on you.
Your face must've been priceless, because Bonnie laughed loudly, trying to muffle it unsuccessfully with her hand. "We're old childhood friends too. Every summer, my dad would take me up here to meet with Justin and Alex, and I'd hang out with them all the time. Justin just likes being complicated."
Now that you could understand. Justin Russo almost never took the easy way out, even when it would be more beneficial in the long run.
"Of course," you started to say.
"--Because being easy would be too easy," you and Bonnie both finished in an eerie unison. You exchanged knowing looks with her before you both burst into laughter.
"Sorry he dragged you into this, by the way." Bonnie brushed her hair back, looking at you thoughtfully. "When he said his friend was coming, I didn't think he'd make you protect me or anything that stupid."
"If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't." Plus, it was part of your job description. You were a hero through and through, and heroes protected people, regardless of the request. "Justin never mentioned you, though. Shame he's keeping such a pretty girl from the rest of us."
Bonnie flushed, nearly hiding her face behind her hair. "Okay, now you've just gotta be messing with me."
"Not really." This was New York; you were practically tripping over beautiful girls with every step you took. There was something different - something striking - about Bonnie's beauty, and you couldn't quite place your finger on it. "Your boyfriend's one lucky guy."
"Oh, uh... I don't exactly have one right now."
You winced. "Sorry. I had no idea."
So you weren't exactly in the dating game either. Between Chloe and the other girls you met at bars, you didn't need a long-term girlfriend. Sure, you thought you loved Maxine. That was before you woke up to your true feelings, buried deep beneath that initial layer of infatuation. You loved her, but you had never been in love with her.
She deserved someone that wasn't you, and you really needed to crush on girls who could handle your lifestyle. (Maxine wouldn't have lasted an evening and you both knew it.)
"College kind of killed my social life," she said with a laugh. "It's no big deal. So uh, you're a hero? Honest-to-god type?"
You nodded, holding out your arm and allowing it to shift briefly into full-werepanther form. Over the years, you had slowly learned to control your shape, so that now you could shift parts of your body to reveal your other (and much more naked) form.
"Wildcat the Third," you said proudly. (Yolanda would've smacked you if you had dared to forget her impact.) "I've been part of the JSA for a while." Instinctively, you glanced around for signs of Peyton or his camera, before you realized that he was still at his film shoot.
You had grown so accustomed to little white lies that this honesty - this ability to fully revel in your powers - overwhelmed you. Bonnie must've noticed, because she reached over and lightly stroked your fur. "It's okay. I'm not scared of heroes or anything."
Good, because she was kind of stuck with one until Justin uncovered a cure or something groundbreaking.
"That's... nevermind." You shook your head. "So how come? Were you part of the Shadowpact?"
"Kind of." Bonnie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That's why I came to New York to study. Someone from my town helped found the Shadowpact, and I wanted to learn about them and why someone would do such a thing."
"Do you know who?"
"I wish. He used a codename, so I don't even have a picture to go off on." She sighed. "I figure, once we get the Anchor thing sorted out, I can hunt Mystery Man down and get some answers."
You half-missed this, being able to talk superhero stuff with someone who understood the nuances of that world. Jason resided more with the criminals, while Maxine was still getting her feet wet (and to an extent, you wanted to shield her). Bonnie had not only seen the world but she knew the consequences behind every action.
If she was here to uncover the founder of Shadowpact - someone who would undoubtedly still be alive today (as most magicians lived close to forever) - then you felt obligated to help. Even if you weren't protecting her from potential supervillains.
"So where are you from?" You finally ventured to ask. "If Mystery Man lived in your town, then it's gotta be big, right?"
"I'm from this super tiny town in Virginia. Most people've never heard of it, so I just say I'm an hour away from Richmond." You gestured for her to elaborate, so she said, "It's called Mystic Falls. You'd think Mystery Guy wouldn't be able to hide, when our population's 6,500, but he's been eluding me for years."
"Is it one of those supernatural small towns?"
Bonnie smiled wryly at you. "I'm amazed. You're the first to catch onto that."
With a name like Mystic Falls, it wasn't exactly hiding its supernatural heritage. You were frankly more surprised when some no-name town made the news for blood pacts, or when a place like 'Haven' had shady supernatural occurrences more often than said supernatural small towns. You shrugged, finishing off your tea. "People just aren't listening."
"I guess not." Her face grew more distant as she looked into her mug. Something about home must've struck a nerve, because for a few seconds, neither of you spoke, until you stood up and got some cookies for you to share.
When she stared at them skeptically, you had said, "If you're the portal, I think you can eat whatever the hell you want." Death wasn't exactly a stranger to her anymore, and when a girl was on first-name terms with it, she really didn't need to diet.
She just snorted at you, setting her mug down.
You scooted closer to her, holding out the cookie as a peace offering. When she still wouldn't accept, you waved it in her face and-- And she leaned in and kissed you.
Damn. You'd never worked this fast before. You could feel your heart rate spiking dangerously as she gently wrapped her arms around your neck. So maybe you weren't dating Sharpay yet, but you were pretty sure you couldn't keep the Anchor as a girlfriend.
When she let go, you said, "Uh."
"Sorry." She blushed, scooting away from you. "I just... I haven't had someone be this honest with me in a long time. Especially a white guy."
You smiled sheepishly at her. Maxine usually shied away from race jokes, but Mimi had lovingly called you her favorite white boy. Even at the JSA, you were still the only white guy among your peers. The old guys didn't count, and Rick wasn't part of your generation, considering he was married with kids. Bonnie's town must've been super white, for her to express this with trepidation.
"Maybe they should be," you said, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. "You deserve someone who gets you. All of you."
Only when her face turned redder did you catch the implications of what you had just said. You opened your mouth to clarify, when your phone impatiently buzzed. "Hello?"
"Tom, is Bonnie still with you?" Justin's voice was dry and almost hoarse.
"Yeah." You furrowed your brow. "What's up?"
"I think we've got something. Can you.. can you just keep her overnight? I need to double-check this with some of the other members of Shadowpact. I might have an answer, but it's a long-shot."
If he was going to work with the other members, there was no better time to ask, "Hey, Justin? Can you do me a favor?"
"Um, can it wait?"
"Not really. Do you know the founders of Shadowpact?"
"Kinda. Only one of them's still alive," Justin said slowly, as if the pieces were slowly clicking into place. "Tom, I can't give you his identity. I promised him I wouldn't."
Now that was unusual. You scratched your cheek. "How come? Is he super shady or something?"
"Let's... let's just say that he doesn't want Bonnie to think of him differently, because he was an active hero in the 40's instead of loitering around like he made everyone else think he was."
Whoever this founder was, he sure sounded like Jason. You didn't understand those brooding boys, who insisted on hiding their good deeds beneath a veneer of bravado and sarcasm. Sure, girls loved "bad boys" in theory. Yet those same girls always ditched them for you, once you confessed to your love for cats and children's animation. Girls wanted to make out with bad boys, but they wanted to go home with a guy that their parents would love.
If this guy didn't trust Bonnie enough with his secrets, then maybe he needed to grow up a little.
You sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Fine, I guess. Thanks for the total lack of help."
"My hands are tied, Bronson. Sorry." Justin was silent for a moment, before he quietly added, "If I were to say something more, I'd say that he's only hiding it because he cares for her. He doesn't want her wrapped up in this any more than I do." Without another word, Justin hung up, leaving Bonnie to stare wordlessly at you.
"You didn't have to ask him. I've already tried multiple times."
"It was worth a shot." Justin had also openly admitted to this founder - whoever he was - liking Bonnie. That should've narrowed down the pool of people significantly, except Bonnie was a pretty damn likeable person. Nearly anyone from her hometown could've fit the bill.
She smiled gratefully at you. "It's okay. I'll hunt him down myself, once we figure out how to transfer my power to something else. I miss my magic." So that's how she fully knew Justin. They haunted the same magic hangouts, and you were willing to bet that they even swapped spells like your mom swapped Hanukkah cookies.
"Good luck," you said sincerely. "I'm no use once you start talking about magic. I mean, I play D&D, but that's not even close to accurate."
"You're probably the first hero I've met who's publicly admitted to playing it," Bonnie said with a giggle.
"Then you clearly haven't been hanging around enough of us." You laughed, thinking back to your last game with Kyle, Jaime, and Jason. Sometimes, Billy, Courtney, and Maxine crashed your games and demanded to play, but your Guys Night In usually revolved back to tabletop and copious amounts of beer.
When your lives could end precariously, you tended to indulge in the little things that wouldn't risk your safety. It gave you some sense of peace, something to make you feel a little more human because you weren't out there endangering your neck. Or, as Jason had once put it, "Only we would have a tabletop game about ordinary people doing ordinary things." (Some nights, you just needed a game that revolved around people trying to ask their dates to prom.)
"Clearly," she agreed softly, her gaze falling down to your lips. You pretended not to notice, even as you reached for the remote and turned the TV on.
Before you knew what you were doing, you had moved closer and kissed her again. A knock at the door interrupted you, and you were half-tempted to just ignore it and continue to explore your newest friend. Bonnie's entire body had tensed as you lightly kissed her neck, then her shoulders, then...
The knock just kept getting louder.
You sighed dramatically, rising to your feet and tugging your shirt back on. The second you opened the door, you were greeted by a tall, dark-haired man who could've given Dick Grayson (and Jason, frankly) a run for his money with crystal-clear blue eyes. You noticed his furrowed brow and his tense shoulders far earlier than you noticed his all-black attire and the ornate ring around his finger.
"I'm here to see Bonnie," the man said curtly, giving you a disgusted scowl. "Seems you're already well-acquainted with her."
You folded her arms. "And you would be?"
Justin had specifically told you to protect her, and if strange men wanted to seize her, well - they would have to go through you first.
"Damon," he said simply, craning his neck to get a better look at your apartment. "Bonnie'll know who I am."
"Not good enough." You stood up straighter, now scrutinizing him carefully. You sure didn't recognize him from the JSA files - and if he was a Neo-Nazi, he would've cared more about you and your Jewish heritage than Bonnie. Was he an enemy of Shadowpact? You'd never seen their files, so anyone could be a threat. "How do you know her?"
Damon laughed hollowly. "You don't need to know that."
From the back of your apartment, Bonnie screeched in pain. You both instinctively turned your heads, and only you ran towards her. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Damon hold his arm at your threshold - and you could see him scowl at you from behind the door.
"M-make it stop," she said, curling up into the fetal position on your couch. Justin said that healing spells wouldn't help, and you couldn't exactly cram cookies down her throat...
"Bonnie!" Damon called, banging his hands furiously against the invisible forcefield that had mysteriously formed in your doorway. "Bonnie, can you hear me?"
"Ugh, you invited Damon?" Bonnie scowled at you. "Of all the people to follow me from home..."
"I didn't." You blinked, turning back to look at him. "You know him? He's not out to kill you?"
Damon let out a half-amused, half-appalled squawk, just as Bonnie burst into laughter.
"Oh god no." Bonnie said, her lips curling up into a faint imitation of a smile as she clutched her stomach. "He's... he's his own category."
"So what is he?"
"Your friendly neighborhood vampire," Damon said, his stance relaxing slightly as he leaned against the invisible forcefield. "Now can you please let me in, Bronson? Ted and Alan would've never approved of leaving a guest in the cold. It's not very heroic, you know."
You squinted at him. "You know my dad?"
Damon flinched. "Uh, I..."
Now Bonnie glanced at you, then at Damon, before she slowly sat up and pulled a blanket around her. "Now I've gotta hear this. How do you know Tom's dad?"
"We might've run in the same circle, once upon a time," Damon said slowly, as you moved towards him cautiously. "It's not something I'm proud of."
Why, because Dad beat this skinny vampire up? Did Dad even know vampires back in the day? So many questions, so little time to answer them all - and judging from Damon's suddenly stiff stance, you weren't going to get the proper ones. Unfortunately, Bonnie was far too stunned to call him out on his lie.
"You're really not out to kill her?"
"Of course not," Damon re-iterated, now scoffing at you with a disgusted glare. "I've got better things to do than hurt the Bennett girl."
His language had soured with each word. You didn't know him - but you sure knew guys like him, guys who refused to openly admit just how much the girl sitting across the room mattered to them. Damon really wouldn't lay a finger on her, and you were starting to suspect that you knew why, if he came all the way here from Virginia.
"Why, because Justin told you that he might've found a way to transfer her power to someone else?" You said almost inaudibly, knowing that Damon would hear whatever Bonnie couldn't.
Damon's eyes widened as he mouthed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You helped found the Shadowpact. That's why you know Dad and Uncle Alan, and that's why you're here to see Bonnie."
Damon folded his arms. "Now why would I do such a thing? I don't care much for human life."
You couldn't quite hide the smile on your face, though for Damon's (shallow) ego, you turned so that Bonnie couldn't see it. "Same reason I agreed to protect her, I imagine."
Thank god for that threshold. Damon swung at your jaw, only for you to neatly step inside and dodge the blow.
"Damon, what are you doing?" Bonnie rose from the couch, draping the blanket around her as she stepped closer.
Damon shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Making sure this creep gets what he deserves."
You supposed there was a first time for every insult. "Says the guy who won't actually tell her how he feels," you called in return, reaching for your phone.
Dad had already texted you back,
Damon's in town?? I haven't seen that scamp since 1950. does he have grandkids yet
You didn't have the heart to type back, vampires can't have kids.
It seemed cruel, when Damon's eyes softened at the mere sight of Bonnie, and when his hand reached out to touch her and brush her hair out of her bangs. This idiot loved her, and Bonnie was too oblivious to notice. Just as Maxine had been oblivious to your (gigantic) crush on her, instead returning Peyton's fledgling affection.
"Tom's not a creep," Bonnie insisted, still keeping the blanket around her as she stared straight into Damon's eyes.
(Un)Surprisingly, he shrunk back from her. "Then why does he smell like you?"
"Because I'm in his house?" Bonnie shot him a disgusted look. "Ugh, does everything always turn back to sex with you?"
Damon merely smirked in response, though it was a thin one. His eyes had already hardened - and you had fought enough battles to realize that he was preparing for something big. "Elena wanted you to come home," he said patiently, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm just the delivery guy."
Only an idiot would believe that he was doing this for someone else - though for Peyton's sake, you hoped this wasn't his Aunt Elena. (Weren't they both from small towns?) Bonnie clung to the blanket tightly, nearly burying herself in it.
"Elena can wait. Justin asked me to stay here with Tom--"
"And I'm here to relieve the kid from his duty."
If Damon weren't a vampire, you would've made a face at him - except you still were, because Damon looked your age, and you really didn't call your peers kid.
"By what, killing him?" Bonnie frowned at him. "Let's not and say we did."
Wait. Bonnie hadn't clued Damon into how her powers worked? Maybe they were both oblivious to their feelings. If so, you were so better off not interfering. Dad had once said that you too had nine lives. This wasn't how you wanted to discover an untapped ability - or worse, one you didn't actually have.
You snorted, trying to keep your voice light as you said, "I don't want to tour the Other Side, so I think I'll pass."
Damon just sighed at you in response. "I'm not stupid enough to kill my host, Bonnie." There was a light desperation in his voice, an unspoken plea you couldn't quite ignore.
You were so going to regret this in the morning, and yet - and yet you heard yourself saying, "Damon, you can come in. Clearly you're not leaving anytime soon."
If the others returned anytime soon - Peyton had the worst timing in the world - you didn't want to explain to them why you had suddenly left a stranger in the cold. Considering you had once taken in a homeless girl off the street, you didn't exactly have a reputation for distrusting strangers. Even if he had once heroed it up with Dad and Uncle Alan.
Damon crossed the threshold, just as Bonnie sighed and turned back towards the kitchen. You braced yourself for another punch or some kind of assault, but he merely gave you a nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you."
You must've heard him wrong. Bonnie surely didn't hear him, because she was calmly pouring tea as if nothing had happened. You tilted your head at him. "You're... welcome?"
"I mean it. You didn't have to let me in."
Yeah, well, you didn't exactly want him exacerbating Bonnie's pain either, no matter how much he loved her.
Damon continued quietly - so quietly you almost had to strain to hear him, and you had superhearing, "Don't tell Bonnie about my role in Shadowpact. Even if I told her, I don't think she'd believe me."
Hell, you still couldn't fully believe it. Justin willingly collaborated with someone like Damon? Scratch that, Justin trusted Damon? You knew better to not judge books by their covers, and even this threw you off. Sure, you could see him throwing back beer with Dad, and even Uncle Jay if you squinted, but he seemed too carefree and rebellious to sit down and study spellbooks with Justin. This guy could've never formed a supernatural superhero team. Except, according to Justin, he had, and he was standing right in front of you with the solemnity you expected from such a leader.
Leather jackets always were deceiving that way.
"Some day, you'll have to tell her yourself," you said just as softly. "Otherwise, she'll be looking for her mystery guy for quite a while."
"Good." Damon's throat tightened. "I don't deserve someone like her anyways."
Then, more loudly, he yelled, "Judgey! Hey, Judgey! Don't think you can just leave me out in the cold like that?" as he sauntered over to Bonnie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Bonnie just glared at him, lightly pulling his arm off her before she sipped her tea again.
As you were wondering just how you were going to explain this all to Sharpay, she waltzed through the back door with her shopping bags. She only took one look at Damon before she narrowed her eyes at you and snarled, "Salvatore."
"Evans." Damon smiled thinly, trying again to lean against Bonnie. "How nice to see you so soon."
You stared at her quizzically, because you were usually the one who knew everyone, before Sharpay elaborated, "We met earlier in the Sub Station. He was the asshole who stole my lunch because he was apparently more important than me."
Damon's eyes twinkled with amusement, and you bit on your tongue to keep from laughing. Sharpay must've not noticed, because she continued, "I can't believe you invited him over! I don't care if he's some old friend of your waiter, he doesn't deserve your kindness." What you wouldn't have given to have Peyton here instead, because at least Peyton would've been scared shitless by a vampire.
Calmly, Damon stared straight into her eyes. "I didn't steal your lunch."
It must've been some Jedi mind trick - or an attempt at one, because Sharpay screeched incoherently at him. "Suuuure you didn't. You just had to take the only bottle of tomato juice?"
"Uh, Shar..." You coughed. "I don't think it was tomato juice."
"What, now you're on his side?"
"No, but..." You mimicked fangs. "He's spending the night here with my friend Bonnie until we get some stuff sorted out." Carefully, you stepped back, half-expecting a punch from her.
Sharpay just stared, first at you, then at Damon, then at you before she just said, "My neck is off-limits."
Damon's face actually turned red, just as Bonnie buried her face in Damon's shoulder. Sharpay's eyes caught yours, and you two unsuccessfully tried to hide your laughter. You figured, as long as Damon tried to play nice, you could host him for the night.
Thankfully, no one dared to attack your brownstone at strange hours. In fact, the neighborhood was the quietest it had been in weeks. Around one AM, your hearing heard footsteps, followed by the quiet sound of someone licking his fingers.
You could see Damon's figure retreating into another spare room, along with the blood dripping onto his shirt. If he was why the neighborhood remained quiet, you really didn't want his blood on your conscience. Before you could question him, Damon had disappeared again.
Justin called you in the morning with good news, after Damon had returned with groceries and made the apartment scrambled eggs and hash browns.
"We can transfer her power to a less-sentient Anchor," Justin had said with a yawn. (The poor guy must've gotten no sleep, and judging from the dark circles around Damon's eyes, Damon must've offered to help.) "Damon said he could bring her to my Lair, so you don't have to help anymore."
"It was no problem. Hey, and Justin?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time, maybe you could've told me her..." You paused, knowing full well that Damon was eavesdropping on your conversation. "You could've been more blatant about it."
"It's not like I knew he'd drop by and visit," Justin had said with a groan. "Tell him I said hi."
The second you hung up, Damon just shook his head sadly at you. "Justin can't keep a secret to save his life."
Nah: if he could keep something this big from Bonnie, you figured he could protect something with his life. He certainly hadn't wanted to break Bonnie's heart, and you weren't quite so keen on it either.
You weren't exactly a talented liar, so Damon's expression softened as he said, "I'd be more honest with her if I thought I deserved her praise. As it is... hey, Mystery Guy's a pretty handsome dude."
You snorted. "If that lets you sleep at night."
"If what lets you sleep?" Bonnie asked, descending the stairs with her luggage.
"That's what she said," Damon replied cheekily, holding the door open for her as they headed into their cab. Bonnie elbowed him. Hard.
As you watched them leave, you sighed with relief.
So maybe you didn't deal with Shadowpact stuff often, but hey, at least your work was never boring.