Catch-22 (n): a difficult situation in which the solution to a problem is impossible because it is also the cause of the problem.

Damon's POV

Damon knew that his daughter was going to murder him when she found out what he did. Well, maybe not literally...but then again, if she was angry enough, she probably could.

And most likely, she was going to be angry enough.

What she needed to understand was that he did it for her. Of course, that reasoning was a bit of a catch-22, because Y/N would never want any action done selfishly in her name.

And that was precisely what Damon had done. He'd urged Newt to drink his blood, knowing that he would likely die in the next few minutes. He'd told Newt that it was the only way to save Y/N from the Cranks - by using the superior abilities that the blood would give him. He knew Newt would take his blood because whether or not he'd admitted it, he was in love with his daughter. Damon also knew that Newt didn't want to leave his friends behind, regardless of what he said. Though Damon didn't know the exact reason that he was hesitant to become a vampire (there could be many), he could tell that Newt didn't want to leave, nor did he want his mind to be consumed by the Flare.

Shortly after Newt had been shot, Damon had taken over and gotten himself and the rest of the group out of the Crank Palace. He'd carried both Y/N and Newt, while also leaving several dead Cranks behind in his wake. He hoped his travel companions hadn't seen too much of the ordeal, because if they had, they were probably traumatized. Well, what could he say? He'd told them not to watch.

Anyway, they'd made it back to the Berg, and they were flying back to the outskirts of Denver to plan their next steps. Y/N was still unconscious, but Damon knew she'd wake up eventually. Newt, on the other hand, should be waking up any second.

"Hey." A voice cut through Damon's thoughts. Minho. He was standing next to Damon, a few feet away from the "sleeping" Newt, his arms crossed in concentration. "When's he gonna wake up?"

Damon shrugged. "Any minute now."

The two stood in silence again before Minho said, "Thanks for getting us out of there."

Damon turned to look at Minho, but the boy was still staring straight ahead. He knew it probably took a lot for him to give Damon any sort of compliment, and Damon resisted the urge to rub it in, opting to try to be the bigger person. "Maybe I'm not as bad as you think."

Minho finally turned to look at him, one black eyebrow arched. "Maybe not."

Damon could hear the distant murmur of Thomas, Brenda, and Jorge's voices in the cockpit, but he blocked them out. Just as he was about to leave Newt to go check on Y/N, his eyes snapped open, taking in a sharp gasp as he sat up quickly.

He was sucking in air, his chest heaving with each breath. Damon knelt down next to him and smirked. "Good morning, sunshine. Welcome to your new life."

He had situated Newt in a darker part of the Berg so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the light when he first woke up. Yet Newt didn't seem at all concerned about the discomfort he was surely feeling. His dark eyes darted all around as he whipped his head right and left. "Where's Y/N?" he asked frantically.

"She's recovering in the living area. She's fine, don't worry. You saved her."

Newt opened his mouth to say something but winced and touched his jaw instead. "Wh-what happened to me? Why does my mouth hurt? And why am I so hungry?"

Damon took a deep breath. Though he had very little to explain to Newt technically, he wasn't going to take the news well. Not at first, at least. "Well, there's a few things I should update you on. Here's the thing..."

____________________________________________________________________________

Y/N's POV

My eyes flew open as I sucked in a sharp gasp. Where am I? The last thing I remembered was being in the bowling alley at the Crank Palace. A fight broke out. I was being punched repeatedly in the head, trying to protect myself. Newt ran towards me, blood around his mouth. And then...

Newt. He was dead. I sat up, looking all around me, in a panicked haze. My heart rate slowed momentarily as I recognized where I was. Metal walls, a linoleum floor. I was sitting in a cot, and there were a few couches nearby. I was back on the Berg.

I ripped the blanket off me, standing up so fast that I stumbled. "Hey, she's awake!" someone yelled.

I blinked; then Damon was standing in front of me. I took a few ragged breaths, the panic hardly subsiding. Tears stung my eyes. I snapped my head around, causing myself to feel even more dizzy. I didn't see Newt anywhere. Where was his body? Had they just left it there? "Damon...I..." I choked out, my chest tightening.

Damon gently placed his hands on my shoulders. "Calm down, Y/N," he said steadily.

My eyes widened as a hot rush of anger flooded through me. "Calm down?" I shrieked. "How am I supposed to calm down! Newt is dead, Damon! Dead!" I yelled, pounding my fists into his chest.

"Newt isn't dead, Y/N."

"And you could've saved him! You could've stepped in at any time! But no, instead you just sat there, almost let me die too-"

"Y/N!" Damon said sharply, causing me to stop my rant in surprise. He met my eyes evenly. "Newt is not dead."

"What are you talking about?" I said, my vision blurred by tears. "I saw...I saw the bullet go right through his chest. There's no way he survived that," I said, a sob breaking my voice.

Damon shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't say he survived it, exactly. But dead? No, he's certainly not dead," he said, smirking.

I was getting more furious with every second. What in god's name was he saying? He didn't survive being shot, but he wasn't dead? "Dammit Damon, can you just tell me what the hell is going on here?" I exclaimed, my voice raising again.

"First of all, watch your language young lady." I rolled my eyes. "And second of all, think for just a second. You didn't see everything during that fight. How do you think Newt was able to throw people to the side like it was nothing? How was he moving so fast? I know you saw that."

I slowly raised my hand to my mouth, covering it in shock. "But that would mean...you gave Newt your blood? When?"

Damon smiled, snapping his fingers. "Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Yes, I gave him my blood, just seconds before he went to save you. Pretty smart isn't it?" he said, looking quite pleased with himself.

I shook my head, trying to clear out the thoughts that were cluttering it up. I couldn't think at all. Newt wasn't dead. Newt might become a vampire. Newt had taken blood to save me, and now...now what? I swallowed. "Is he awake yet?"

Damon put his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. "Yeah, he woke up pretty soon after we got back on the Berg. You were out for about an hour."

"How is he?"

"As good as he can be," he replied, not quite meeting my eyes.

"Don't lie to me."

"All right, he's not thrilled about his current circumstances. But hey, that's better than six feet under, right?"

Damon's sarcastic attitude was really starting to piss me off. I buried my head in my hands. "Ok, well where is he? And where is everyone?" I asked, noticing the empty cargo bay and living area.

"Brenda, Thomas, and Minho are in the cockpit with Jorge. They wanted to give you space to process this. Newt is back there," Damon said, pointing to the dark area on the opposite end of the Berg where we kept the weapons.

I took a step in that direction, but Damon grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back. "I don't think he's ready to talk yet. You need to wait."

"But-"

"No buts. Come here, let's sit down," Damon said, leading me back over to my cot.

I sat down, not even knowing what to think. Everything had gone so crazy in the past 24 hours. Then again, that was just my life now.

The second I sat down, I remembered something. Newt's notebook. "Where's my backpack?"

"Over by your cot. Why?"

I ignored Damon and ran over to it, ripping the zipper open. I shoved bottles of water aside until I caught a glimpse of the journal's red cover. I let out a sigh of relief. It was still there.

"What're you looking for?" Damon had snuck up behind me without me noticing.

"Nothing," I said, quickly zipping the backpack shut again. "I just wanted to make sure we didn't lose anything."

He eyed me suspiciously but did not question me further as I walked back to the couch with him.

"He loves you, you know," Damon said once we sat back down.

My face flushed. "How do you know that?"

"I'm 400 years old, Y/N. I happen to have some experience in the emotions department."

I sighed, staring at the spot where Newt had kissed me. The memory seemed like it might as well have happened 20 years ago for how much everything had changed since that night. "He said he never should've kissed me. You heard him. He obviously regrets it."

Damon scoffed. "Regrets it? Please. I believe him about as much as I believe that WICKED is a great organization with no sinister goals whatsoever."

I didn't have the emotional capacity to talk about Newt and me right now, so I tried to change the subject. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you wait until the last minute to step in at that fight? I mean, I'm assuming you eventually did when I got knocked out. But you were watching me get dragged away! In what world would you stand there, make Newt of all people do your dirty work, and then wait until he gets shot to do anything? I mean, I get that you didn't want to expose yourself as a vampire, but come on. I thought you had better judgment than that."

Damon broke eye contact with me, looking at the wall ahead of us, his hands clasped together in front of him. A faint smile crossed his face as he met my eyes once again. "I do have better judgment than that, Y/N. Of course I do. You think I'd ever let anything happen to you? You're my daughter, my only family. And by the way, after you passed out, I did go crazy on everyone in there. I doubt there were many survivors, but I think I compelled the right people to cover it."

I held my palms out, waiting for him to answer what I'd asked. "Ok, so what was going through your mind? Enlighten me," I said flatly.

"Wow, I'm really having to spell everything out for you today. Listen. You said you wanted Newt to become a vampire so he could stay with you, right?"

"Yes," I answered, raising my eyebrows.

"Well, he didn't sound too enthusiastic about that from what I gathered. But if you were in danger...well, that would change things for him. So, I convinced him to take my blood when they were dragging you off. I told him I couldn't save you without it looking suspicious. But if I gave him my blood, he would be able to save you. And, as I expected, he took the bait," he finished.

My jaw dropped as I struggled to find words to reply to him with. "Damon, are you serious? How could you? You just took his choice away like that! If he finds out, he'll never forgive me, or you for that matter!"

"What? It's not like I compelled him and forced him to take it! That was completely his choice. Besides, there's nothing we can do about it now," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Are you even listening to yourself right now?"

Damon placed a hand on my shoulder, but I forcefully pushed it off. "Y/N, I did this for you. I want you to be happy because I love you. I had a solution to a problem, and what kind of person would I be if I didn't use said solution?"

I stood up, whirling around to face him angrily as he got up to follow me. "Oh I don't know, maybe not a lying, deceitful stick! Hey, here's a tip: The next time you're planning these genius schemes, maybe lay off the bourbon!"

Damon let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh believe me, I was completely sober for this one, sweetheart."

Fury boiled up in me at his unbothered attitude; I stood up and began pacing around as I tried to control myself. "You know, this is the exact problem Elena had with you, and now I'm finally understanding it! This is just like when you forced your blood down her because you didn't want her to die in that weird ritual with that Klaus guy, even though you knew she didn't want to be a vampire. Only, at least in her case she didn't end up actually dying that time," I snapped.

Damon looked down at the ground, his hands shoved into his pockets. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that," he muttered.

"I can't believe you did this!" I hissed at him. "You do realize that Newt is going to blame me for this right? He might never forgive me! I thought I could trust you, but I guess I was wrong. You're just as manipulative as WICKED."

Anger flashed in Damon's bright blue eyes. He stood up with me, his lips pressed into a thin line. "You want to know just how manipulative I am, Y/N? Do you really think that Rachel stepped in front of you out of the goodness of her heart? That knife was coming right for you. Did you think I'd just stand there and watch you die when I had the chance to save you?"

Heat flooded my body. "You don't mean..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"I will always save you, Y/N. Always."

I was seeing red now. Seething with rage that burned in me like an all-consuming fire. "How could you do that? You killed one of my friends and now you're burdening me with that information! How am I supposed to live knowing that you forced Rachel to die for me? Anything else you want to come clean about? More murders that you committed in my name?" I shouted.

Damon looked taken aback for a moment, but he recovered, his facial expression hardening. "Everything I've ever done was for you, Y/N! And I'd do every single thing all over again, no hesitations."

"That's the problem, Damon! It isn't all about me. Sometimes you have to do things for the-"

He cut me off. "Don't you dare say for the greater good. Have you seen what happens when people do things for the greater good? Organizations like WICKED are formed. Is that really what you want?"

I was speechless. I just stared at him, emotions coursing through me. "I can't talk to you right now," I said coldly, turning away from him.

I saw a flash of movement off to my side. I quickly turned my head around to see who it was. It was Newt. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. Fury burned in his eyes. I stood there, mouth hanging open, not knowing what to do. He was alive, standing right there.

"Newt," I breathed.

He shifted his eyes to me, looking me up and down as he took me in. His pink lips were pressed into a thin line. His senses. They were heightened now. He'd probably heard our entire conversation. "How much of that did you hear?" I asked nervously.

"Bloody enough," he growled.

"Newt, I'm so sorry," I said, taking a step towards him.

He backed away from me, holding up his hands. "Don't bother apologizing." And with that, he turned and sprinted faster than I'd ever seen him move into the darkness of the weapons room. As I watched him, I noticed that his limp was gone - the vampire blood was already healing him. But I was so mad at Damon that I hardly focused on that.

I turned around, crossing my arms and staring out the window of the Berg. We were flying; we must've taken off before I'd regained consciousness.

Just then, Thomas appeared from the cockpit. He had a few bruises on his face, but other than that, he seemed fine. "Hey guys. Jorge wanted me to tell you that we'd be landing soon."

He disappeared back into the cockpit, so I asked Damon where we were going. "Back to Denver. Said we need to go find Gally again. He'll be able to connect us with the Right Arm."

I nodded, wondering how that was going to work out since we had a transitioning vampire on board with us now. But, I plopped on the couch, electing to give myself a break from thinking for the next few minutes before we landed.

____________________________________________________________________________

About 20 minutes later, the Berg shuddered to a landing outside the wall that surrounded Denver. Brenda, Minho, Thomas, and Jorge came out of the cockpit, looking a little nervous. Newt was still hiding from everyone. They'd probably heard my entire exchange with Damon, which made things a little awkward.

"All right, muchachos," Jorge said, clapping his hands together. "Denver. Back again. You ready?"

"What exactly are we gonna be doing?" I asked. "Damon told me you guys wanted to go find Gally again. But then what?"

Brenda shrugged. "We don't really know. Gally is our closest direct contact to the Right Arm. He may be able to clue us in as to what's going on. If WICKED is stealing Immunes like we think to restart the Trials, the Right Arm should be planning to do something any day now. We don't have any time to waste."

I crossed my arms. "All right then. So, I guess you guys will go into the city and I'll stay here with Newt. Damon, I'm not sure-" Damon interrupted me off before I finished my sentence.

"Nice try Y/N, but that's not happening."

"What? Why not?"

"You aren't staying here with Newt. I'll do that."

I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Well, don't you think Newt should at least get a say in this? I mean, I know his opinion obviously isn't the biggest concern of yours, but still."

I wanted to slap the smug smile that formed on Damon's face right off. "He can hear us just fine. I'm sure you know that. If he has something to add, he will."

"Will you quit talking about him like he's not here!"

"Aww, isn't that sweet? She's defending her boyfriend," Minho teased, shooting me a smug smile.

I bit back a retort, trying to ignore him. "Come on Damon, please," I said, hating how I was practically having to grovel.

"Look, just listen to me for a minute, ok? I need to stay here with Newt. I'm the only one who understands what he's going through, and while he may hate me, I'm the only one that can help him if something goes wrong. Besides, I have a lot to tell him about being a vampire, and do you really think it's the best idea to have a human around, especially if it's you? Temptations may arise," he said with yet another smirk. "And I know you want this to be purely his choice, which means you shouldn't be around to influence his decision."

I glared at him with all the intensity I could muster. I'd never been this angry with Damon before, and the last thing I wanted to do was leave Newt alone with him. Yet, I knew he was right. It killed me to have to leave Newt behind in this state, but I knew it was what would be best for him.

"Look, I hate to break up this happy family fight, but we need to get moving," Minho said. "Like Brenda said, time is of the essence."

Damon and I shot him an annoyed glance before meeting everyone else's eyes. "Fine. Let's go