VD: Datherine

Dead Man on Campus (1st revised version)

Summary: Set in S5E "Dead Man on Campus." What if Damon was the one that saved Katherine when she jumped off the clock tower, instead of Stefan?

It was a dark night in Mystic Falls, Virginia as Katherine Pierce, formerly known as Katerina Petrova, stood on the clock tower that overlooked the town square. She couldn't outrun time, so she was going to jump off the clock tower to end her own suffering. She hadn't personally said her good-byes to Nadia Petrova, her vampire daughter, but she had left a note at the boarding house where she could find it when she got there. Hopefully, Nadia would find it instead of someone else. After all, Nadia didn't live there and technically didn't have a place to live, so Nadia was probably staying at a hotel. After 500 years of running and surviving from different enemies, mostly Klaus, she was finally done running. She couldn't outrun time, so she was going to do this.

Meanwhile, Damon Salvatore entered the boarding house to complete silence. No one was home. Not even Katherine. At first, he shrugged it off guessing that she was either with her daughter or Stefan, or even sulking somewhere else where he wouldn't have to hear her complaints. They got annoying after the first million times of hearing it 24/7. But then, he saw a piece of paper on the table that Stefan reserved for his journal writing, which he could tell, even before he read the words, that were in Katherine's handwriting. He knew more about her than anyone in this town. Then he began to silently read, as he slowly drank a shot glass of Bourbon by his end table.

Nadia,

It has been my honor and has given me the best happiness that I could have, to be able to see you one last time in this century, after 500 years. I'm sorry that I didn't fight harder to keep you; to keep my own father from practically ripping you from my arms back in 1490. I should've never let him take you. If I had to relive it, I would've left the moment father knew that you were Illegitimate. I could've raised you. I could've been the mother that I know you so deeply want to have. As much as we both want it, I'll never be the mother you want me to. I can try to be, but I'm too tired to be a mother. I've been running from enemies left and right for 500 years. Now I want to run from time, but I can't. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you good-bye in person, but I know that you would've tried to stop me. This is the only way. I can't outrun time, so I might as well get it over with. I've had a long, hard life and I'm done with suffering and grieving. I never had any happiness for long. Elijah will always be my happiness, but I know he can't be there for me forever. He has his family and I have no one. In the end, I am truly and utterly alone, even after all the good I've tried to do. I wish that you could've known the real me that Elijah still thinks is somewhere deep down. Maybe Katerina Petrova is still inside somewhere, but I don't remember who I was and I probably never will be who I once was. As I told Elijah that night in New York when I handed the cure over to him, I want to find out who I once was when he and I first met. You will always be my daughter and I love you for loving me, no matter what I've done. And I'll always love the Salvatores, no matter how much they hate and despise me, and no matter what they've done or tried to do in the past to me. I'm done, Nadia. I am still the shattered Bulgaria girl. I will never be the same and I will never get to pick up the pieces. I'm so tired of always running. Good-bye Nadia. I will always love you, no matter what.

With dearest love,

Your mother,

Katherine Pierce a.k.a Katerina Petrova,

He set her note down on his drinking table and knew that he had to find her. So, he set his shot glass down next to the note and vanished out of his house. Hopefully, he wasn't too late to stop her from killing herself. Though, he was stunned by what the letter had said. It wasn't surprising to him that she loved Nadia. Nadia was her daughter; of course she'd love her; but him and Stefan? How could she love them after everything she'd done and after everything they had done and tried to do to her? And why, after 500 years of running and surviving, would Katherine decide to let Death take her without a fight? What the hell was she thinking? He couldn't let her do that.

When he saw her falling to the sidewalk from the clock tower, he was instantly standing on the sidewalk and caught her from hitting the ground.

When she didn't feel any pain or plummet into darkness, she opened her eyes to see why, only to see that she was in Damon Salvatore's arms.

He set her on her feet and they looked at each other.

"Damon, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I found your very subtle note. I figured I should save Nadia the grief and save you from your own stupidity. What the hell are you thinking? You're Katherine Pierce. You're not supposed to just go around killing yourself."

"Shouldn't Nadia be the one giving me the pep talk? I may still be Katherine, but right now, I don't feel like it. I'm a worthless, fragile human that's dying off quicker than normal. Besides, it's not the first time that I killed myself. Why are you even here saving me? No one in this town would miss me. You'd all just have a party when I'm gone, since you think so little of me. You were right the moment that I came crawling to you for protection. I'm miserable and there's nothing anyone can do. I tried to find a solution to this aging process, but Maxfield told me that I'm a loss cause. I can't be fixed. I'll die sooner rather than later, so I might as well kill myself and be done with all of this."

"You're not worthless, even as a dying human. I may not know your past except for what your note said, but we can do something about this. We can find a way to stop it. Even if we have to bring someone from the Other Side back to life, we'll find a solution. I'm saving your life, because you, Katherine, are worth saving; even if you are a bitch and very stubborn headed and annoying most days. As for you being miserable, we can fix that. I don't care what the Augustine Vampire Society says, you can be saved. This time, I won't let you down."

"Then save me. But promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll burn that letter and won't tell anyone about my suicide attempt."

"I promise."

For the longest time, they silently looked at each other, before they walked away together to go back to the boarding house. And Damon did keep his promise. He burned it and he did what he could to stop the aging process. It worked. They found a witch who knew a spell that would stop it. So, therefore, the spell worked and Katherine was no longer dying of old age. And after that happened, she went to Nadia and she and Nadia left Mystic Falls together like Kat had promised Nadia that they'd do as soon as she was better.