Morals of a Villain

Chapter 16: A Decision

Damon brought Pandora back to the house at his own pace, taking his time to walk through the garden and point out different flowers and such to her. She seemed to hate it more and more with each minute that they stalled, but she didn't make any move to speed things up. Damon was grateful for her patience, even if he would have liked it better had she not been forced to use it just because he was unsure how to put what he wanted to say into words. The simple fact of the matter was, he didn't know how to tell her about his plan. He wanted to, if for no other reason then to hear her laugh at him and offer up a better one. But he didn't have a clue how to go about it. Pandora eventually started to walk faster, refusing to slow down to look at anything Damon pointed out until they got back to the house. Damon tried to find something to distract her so that he didn't have to tell her as quickly as he would have if she kept her same steady pace ahead of him, but failed miserably. She wasn't even paying attention anymore, choosing to walk through the garden and back towards the house as quickly as she could. With a little sigh, he picked up his pace and followed her, muttering to himself that he might as well just get this over with before he completely lost the nerve. 
"Alright, we're back. Now what is your idea?" Pandora asked, stopping exactly in the doorway and looking up at Damon with that same hope that he had seen in her eyes back at the gazebo when he first mentioned his plan. He took a deep breath, trying to find the nerve to ask something of her that he knew she wouldn't ever turn to unless she was completely desperate and their were absolutely no other options. "I, um..." Damon started. "I'm not sure how to put this." He said, sighing a little. "But I think just about the only way for me to protect you properly would be if you...switched sides." He winced. Pandora stared at him with an unreadable expression, sinking into thought as their eyes met. Damon looked away from her, knowing he probably shouldn't have said anything to begin with. "I know it's a stupid idea that you would never even consider most of the time. But it does solve all the problems we would need to face if you are to stay here long enough that someone might notice. Which I hope you will." He added, wrapping one arm around her and pulling her in close. "I would get quite lonely if you were to leave." He smiled, breaking the awkward silence a bit.
Pandora laughed a little, the tension in her eyes abating slightly as she let Damon brush his lips over her forehead, leaving a trail of tiny little kisses behind him. "What problems would those be?" She asked, tilting her head so that Damon had to look into her pure, crystal eyes. Damon smiled, pulling away a little bit but still not letting go of her. "Well, the most pressing one would be the king." He said, brushing a strand of hair out of his lover's eyes. "I'm sure you remember murdering his father, don't you?" He asked, his smile slipping a little. Pandora winced. "Right. The example I was told to make of that poor man." She sighed, resting her head on Damon's chest and looking exhausted just remembering what she had done. "I didn't want to kill him. Doing so was actually one of the things that started to wake me up and show me just how wrong everything I stood for was when I thought purely of how many people died to benefit a small handful of the populus. I still regret that day a little bit more every time I remember it. I know how attached people get to their rulers, especially if those rulers are the ones keeping whole kingdoms from falling on the shoulders of a single teenager who isn't ready to rule them yet." She sighed. 
Damon nodded. "I'm glad you regret it. The current king still has those bounties out on your head, and I'm pretty sure a little bit is added to them every time you escape a villain close to him or kill one of the his subjects." He said, wrapping his arms around her more tightly at the thought of what would happen if someone were to turn her in before things got sorted out fully. He hated just thinking about such a thing, much less being forced to imagine how helpless he would be should something like that ever happen. Pandora let out a low groan. "The fucking bounties." She muttered. "I still can't walk the streets of this kingdom during the day because of them, and I have to stick to back allies at night so none of the nightowls see me. How would joining your side help with that at all, though?" She asked, pulling the conversation back to something slightly less depressing. Damon smiled a little. "Well, if you were to become a villain and go through the whole 'fallen hero' thing, then there's a pretty good chance that the king would pardon you for what you did. He knows what you're capable of, and if you were to offer up the possibility that you might join his team and cripple the heroes by doing so, he wouldn't have any choice but to let you live. You're worth more fighting to help us reclaim everything that your side stole and get revenge for the lives that were taken unnecessarily than you are worth in a shallow grave." He said. 
Pandora shook her head. "But wouldn't he just kill me to get that revenge? It would probably be a lot easier for him, if he still has the same grudge I left him with. I can't imagine that he would care if I join him or not, just so long as the other side doesn't have me and he gets to avenge his father's death." She said. Damon shook his head. "Oh, no. He would obviously want to kill you, but he would also know that you're a complete game changer depending on what side you're on. It wouldn't take a lot for him to see exactly how much more you could do for us if you're on our side then if you were dead. I have no doubts that after he gets over the initial shock and anger, his more logical side will kick in and eventually win out." He said. Pandora was silent for a long moment, still burying her face in Damon's shirt. "Fine." She said at last, letting her weight slump against Damon as she let out a little sigh of defeat. "I don't suppose I have many other options." 
Damon looked down at her, surprised. "Really? You're actually going to join me?" He asked, wanting to kick himself as an undertone of surprised joy came into his voice. He hadn't really expected her to agree with him on this, no matter what the circumstances were. Now that she had, he was starting to find that a slight sensation like that of having an immense weight lifted off your shoulders was coming over him. He couldn't help grinning as he realized that he might have just changed the course of history. Pandora nodded, smiling a little. "I guess we'll get to be partners in crime." She said, looking up at him. A look of excitement was coming into her eyes, as though the thought of facing a king whom she had forced onto the throne at an extremely early age and fighting against the side she had been with for her of her life was the most exciting adventure she could think of. "After all, I do have some unfinished business to attend to with those jackasses." She added, smirking a little at the thought of getting to fight her former boss and all of his henchmen. "I've wanted to help get revenge for the people I hurt for a long time now. I'm not going to do anything more than that, though; after I've tallied up enough strikes against my former friends to match those I have against you people, I am going to put an end to my fighting career once and for all." She added, firmly. Damon nodded, smiling. "Of course. I'll make sure that everyone knows you don't intend to keep this whole thing up past a certain threshold. And I'll be certain that you stick to it, too." He said, his heart fluttering at the thought of getting to teach Pandora how to be a villain. She would make such a good one, too; It was almost as though she had been born for the role. Pandora chuckled, looking up into his eyes with a mischievous smile. "So, where do we begin in this little escapade?"