OUAT/VD: Unexpected Hero (Datherine)

Summary: Set in OUAT S5. Kat's in the underworld after having been killed. When Damon finds out, will he come to the rescue? Does he still care about her? What will happen between them?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

        Kat sat against a rock wall, human and injured. She'd been here ever since she'd been killed. She couldn't leave where she was, though. She'd tried, but had failed. Now, because of Cerberus, the multiple headed dog, she was injured. 

        Damon was walking through a town after having been killed, protecting the town of Mystic Falls. He was walking through the town, not knowing where exactly he was, but knowing he was dead, when he overheard a conversation nearby. He heard people discussing something. They were talking about something. He heard the name Katherine, so he listened closely, and when he did, it seemed that Katherine was in need of some rescuing. He then followed the voices, which led him to a nearby apartment. When he stood at the threshold, it looked to be a loft apartment. 

        "What's this I hear about Katherine in trouble?" he inquired, leaning against the threshold, not yet inside the house, unsure if being dead still applied that he needed invited in or not. 

        "Who are you?" one of them questioned, which seemed to enjoy arrows.

        "Damon Salvatore," he stated. 

        "The vampire ex," another stated. "You'll be useful," she then added. 

        "You seem to be the smart one," he stated. "You are?" 

        "Regina. Katherine's trapped. The underworld dog is keeping her there. But you're a vampire. You can get in and out without a problem. Katherine's spoken of you many times." 

        "I'll rescue Katherine," he replied, before leaving to go find and help her.

        When the elder Salvatore found her, she was in what looked to be a cave. He could see that she was injured, as well as smell the blood. Despite the past, a part of him didn't want anything to happen to her. She'd been horrible as a vampire, but she'd been driven to do what she'd done as a human the last time. He knew she'd wanted redemption, but he hadn't wanted to listen, or wanted anything to do with her at the time. Now, after centuries of not needing to do so, he was having to save her. 

        In a blur, he was knelt at her side, where she lay on her back. 

        "Katherine?" he called, hoping to wake her, despite her injuries. He didn't see or hear Cerberus yet, so he assumed he was out for the moment. And he had to get her out of here before it came back. "If you can hear me, I'm here to get you out of here," he told her when she didn't wake up, before gently picking her up, blurring out of there with her. He then headed back to the loft apartment he'd come from.

        When he got to the loft apartment, he went up to the loft, laying her gently onto the bed. Since she was human though, and since she couldn't digest blood when he'd seen her human last time, he didn't want to try it. He was afraid of her not being able to digest it. He knew someone that could cure her of the poisonous bites, though. He just had to get her back to the land of the living.

        He rested a hand on the side of her face, as he heard and sensed the witch come upstairs. Between now and last time, this was just as different as when she'd been human when he'd been in love with Elena many years ago. Both times were different for him, because he still wasn't used to seeing the strong-willed person he'd loved for 145 years be, yet again, on her deathbed. He'd seen her fight like no one else he'd ever known, yet she almost always as a human seemed to need some kind of protection. Now, she needed someone to save her life, even if she didn't know that she'd been rescued. He was willing to try to save her, though.

        "She couldn't digest vampire blood when she was human in Mystic Falls, so I doubt she'll be able to now. If we can get her out of here, I know a witch that's always capable of saving someone. She could find a way to save her from the poison. You could heal her wounds, but it won't stop the poison," he told the witch without looking at her, still looking at his ex. 

        "This isn't my first rodeo. I know how it works. There's someone that can get us out of here, and that can also find a way to save her when we get back to Storybrooke," Regina informed him. "I created a town in Main several years ago. Like you and Katherine, I'm more than one thing all wrapped into one. I liked to be called Regina now, but there was a time when I was the Evil Queen. Ironically, my enemies eventually became my friends. In Storybrooke, fairytales exist, as they do here," she then explained to him. She knew he had to know before they left. 

        "Well, I'm a vampire as you know, so I guess fairytales aren't too far fetched. Up until we knew that they were more than just tales, even werewolves to us vampires were myths. Who's this person that can get us out and save Katherine?" 

        "The Dark One. Rumple always has something up his sleeve, so I'm sure he won't waste much time saving her. And he and I are itching to get back anyways. We both have sent too many down here."

        He finally looked at the witch, but stayed where he was. 

        "Then let's get out of here," he told her. 

        When they finally all got out of there and back to Storybrooke, Regina invited him into her house, where he layed his former sire down in the guest room. He then stayed on her bedside, allowing Regina and Rumple to do their thing in finding a way to save her life. 

        Damon looked down at his former sire, a hand on the side of her face, like he'd done in the underworld. He wanted to be able to have a one-on-one conversation with her, but he knew after what he'd done when she'd been dying of old age, he'd lost the right to be in her head. He had so many regrets from the past, but one of the most horrible regrets he had was not trying to save or help her when she'd been dying of old age. He'd had so much hate for her back then, he'd tormented her with the worst memory from her past that she never wanted to relive. And he felt that pain. At the time, he hadn't, but a couple years afterward, he had. After years of thinking his mother had died and finding out she was a vampire alive, he'd rekindled their relationship, only for her to die for real. And he felt bad for doing what he had to Katherine after that, knowing now at least a portion of what she'd felt. The difference was that he never showed anyone his feelings. He only let people see what he wanted them to for so long, just as Katherine had done when she'd been a vampire. 

        "Katherine, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, you're safe now. You're in Storybrooke. We worked together and got you out of there. Now, I just need you to hang on while they find a cure. I'm not leaving your side. I'm staying right here, and this time, I'm not letting you die again." He then added, "I'm sorry for what I did to you last time. You didn't deserve that. And if you feel the need to hate me, I wouldn't blame you. I'd hate me too if it was reversed. I didn't understand at the time, but I do now. And you don't deserve this, either."

        A little while later, she was cured, so her life was saved. 

        When she woke up, she found that what she'd heard Damon say was right. She was out of the underworld. She also saw that she was in the guest room at Regina's, and she didn't feel like she was dying anymore. She was also healed of her wounds, so she assumed it was Regina's doing. She knew after last time, Damon wouldn't be risking feeding his blood to her. And she'd heard everything that he'd said. 

        She slowly sat up in bed, which Damon helped her do. 

        "Thanks," she told him. "And I heard everything you said. When I arrived here after escaping a prison world after I died of old age, I'd already forgiven you. I know I broke your heart, so I could never hate you. But I broke your heart for the right reasons. To save you. I knew Klaus was coming, and I was afraid he would kill you for loving me, so I made you hate me, instead," she told him and finally admitted. 

        "In that case, thank you. I guess we're even then," he replied. 

        "I guess we are," she replied with a smile. 

        After looking at each other for a while, they began to kiss, him realizing that he still loved her, no matter what. And so, they got back together, staying in Storybrooke.