VD: Datherine

The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch

Summary: Set in the 8x9 ep "The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch," when Sybil turned Damon's humanity back on and it was too much for him, so Stefan had to go into his mind to try and fix him. What if Kat came back to life and she was the one to help him, instead of anyone else? What will ensue?

It was a dismal night, as Katherine headed to the boarding house. She'd just escaped a prison world she'd ended up in after her demon self had been killed. That prison world happened to have Kai, but she'd learned there how to make her Traveler magic active magic, which had saved her life from Kai. She'd also made sure that Kai wouldn't and couldn't follow her or escape that prison world. She didn't want him to wreak havoc on others. She didn't know what had happened when she'd been technically dead, but Mystic Falls was missing most of its population. She knew that she'd find out soon enough, though.

About half an hour later, she entered the boarding house, looking for Damon. Since she knew him well enough that she assumed that he'd be in the living room, she entered there, only to find that something was wrong with her favorite Salvatore. He was seated on the couch, but not moving, even though he seemed to be awake.

"Damon?" she called, as she approached. Then she knelt in front of him, once she reached him. Since he didn't respond to her, she had to do the one thing she didn't want to do. She'd hated when he'd gone into her head when she'd been dying, so she didn't want to go into his. She knew it was the only way to find out what was wrong, as well as how to help him. She was going to help him, no matter what. She'd lied all those years ago about never loving him, because she'd been protecting him from Klaus, knowing that he was coming to town soon.

Once she'd rested both hands on either side of his head, she closed her eyes, going into his head, only to find out everything that she'd missed. And when she found out what had happened, it angered her that he'd been broken by Sybil. It did help her figure out how to help him come out of it, though. She knew that Damon was hiding, afraid that after everything he'd done meant that he'd go to hell when he died for good. She had to convince him otherwise, though.

When she finally found the real Damon, he was in a cemetery, alone, feeling all his emotions at once.

She approached, sitting next to him on the cement bench. Then she looked at him.

"It's not your fault. What you did before Sybil was defeated. It was against your will. She was controlling you," she assured him.

"One, how and why are you here? Two, controlled or not, it's my fault. A part of me enjoyed it. I deserve to go to hell after all of this."

"But it's not your fault. And you're not going to hell if I can help it. As for what I'm doing here. I escaped a prison world, only to end up in town, so I came to the house. That's when I found out that something's wrong with you."

"Well, thank you. Now, get out of my head so I can wake up."

She did as told, taking her hands away.

A moment later, he was back in the real world.

She looked at him, still knelt down in front of him, despite knowing how he felt about her.

He looked at her.

"Thanks, but why'd you help me?" he wanted to know.

"Because no one should ever have to be like that," she replied. "Besides, I know you'd never believe me, but I lied about my feelings for you. I do care, and I'll always love you, despite who you love, and what we've done to each other."

Looking at the former vampiress, he knew that she was telling the truth now, but he didn't know why. He wasn't sure if it was because she had humanity as a human and she wasn't dying anytime soon now, or if she was expecting something, but he let her tell him the truth anyways. After all, that's all he ever wanted from her.

"Why are you telling me this now?" he wanted to know.

"Well, for one, I don't like what Sybil did to you. If she was still around, I'd personally go kill her myself, but you seem to have taken care of her yourself," she replied.

She got to her feet finally.

He watched her go, and then she stopped at the threshold, letting him know, "If you need anything, I'll be upstairs. It's been a long prison world life for me. I need to freshen up." He then watched her fully leave the living room.

A month later, after they'd settled things between each other, they finally got back together, once Damon forgave her for every bad thing she'd done.