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Bonnie set up camp outside of the Vampire kingdom. She didn’t necessarily have to- there were no signs of imminent threat in the past few weeks, and the castle had been eerily quiet for even longer. The night was cool and dark. The barren wastelands offered no signs of seasonal change, but it had been particularly cold in recent months. Nothing was surviving out in the open, thus Bonnie kept herself and her team warm in the safety of their Peppermint battle truck. It wasn’t much, but they could make do with it.
Still, there was a nagging feeling that was growing in the back of her mind. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the location of her anxieties, but she felt as though there was something she was missing.
She’d felt like that for a long time since the Star entered her life. She tried not to dwell on it, but still. It drove daggers into her subconscious.
“Shit.” Bonnie rustled some maps that she had drawn up. She had been attempting to draw up the whole land, to give her an edge over the vampire kingdom. Still she had been unable to complete it. The biggest problem was that she needed an aerial view of the lands, however the closest peak of the lands was quite conveniently at the mid centre of the vampire kingdom. “Bonnie, there’s no use.” Martin sighed, sensing Bonnie’s frustration from his corner of the tank. “We just have to wait this quiet period out at a safe distance. I don’t want to pry, but why are we staking out anyway?”
Bonnie frowned. “I have this…feeling. I just need you to trust me on this one.” She turned, addressing the huntress. “Both of you. I think we may be on the crux of another attack.”
Martin let out a sympathetic huff, and returned back to his nap. Huntress remained silent, sharpening her arrows.
Alright, then.
Bonnie continued to keep watch outside the tank for what felt like hours. A looming presence snaked its way through her body, sending shivers throughout it. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.
She tightened her grip on the telescope. She was beginning to feel sick, and even a little regretful for coming to such a dangerous spot. God, why did she do this? Why was she always so drawn to this place, when the Star had been the biggest rue to her life? Why couldn’t she just keep away from it all?
“Uh, guys.” Bonnie pulled back from the telescope, shaking away her anxieties. “I think we’ll call it a night here. You were right Martin, I think we might need to…”
An eerie silence. Bonnie whipped her head around, alert as ever. Before her, Huntress and Martin were nowhere to be seen. She had been left entirely alone.
“No!” Bonnie leapt forward to pull the emergency alarm at the front of the tank, but just as she reached for it, a cold hand gripped her arm tightly.
An unsettlingly familiar voice breathed against her ear. “So glad you could make it, Bonbon.”
Fuck. “You.”
“ Me ,” Marceline sang back, in a mocking tone. She gasped, using her free hand to stroke at Bonnie's face. “And you brought me gifts! How sweet of you.”
Bonnie kneed the Star firm in the chest, sending her reeling. There was surprise in her face as she whipped her head around, lunging for Bonnie at full speed. Bonnie leapt out of the way, but to no avail. Tripping on the ground below her, The Star took the opportunity to pin Bonnie firm to the ground by her arms and legs. They were a tangle of bodies on the floor.
“You sure you wanna do this dance again, Bonbon?” The Star’s tone was ecstatic, and unusually happy. Bonnie wasn’t sure what was up with her today, but her behaviour was definitely far from normal. This wasn’t the same Star she had fought with so consistently. There was weakness in her face. She spotted it immediately.
“This will be the last time you wreck havoc on my life, you beast.” Bonnie’s voice was firm, but her hands and legs shook under the Star's grasp. “Where’s Martin and Huntress?”
“Dude, chill. They’re playing tag with some of my ghouls in my room.” The Star laughed, insanity ringing loud in her voice. She bore her fangs with malice. “But Bonnibel, don’t you wanna play with me?”
Fear enveloped Bonnie. She turned away from the Star’s face, anticipating another soul-sucking incident. “Get. Off of me.”
With her eyes shut, Bonnie continued to resist the Star’s force. However, for a while, she was completely silent.
Bonnie opened her eyes to meet a pair of utterly empty ones. She shook herself from the Star’s grasp harder. “Didn't you hear me? I said get off! ”
“Bonnie.”
“I can’t believe you would continue to do something like this to me! Aren’t you tired of it all?”
“I am.”
Bonnie continued to struggle. “Leave me alone, or finish me for good.”
“Bonnie, I said-”
Bonnie let out a disgruntled cry. She forced the Star to the floor, leaping up to her feet. The Star tumbled back with no retaliation, flopping against the hard ground. Her eyes were vacant, gazing up into Bonnie with a lack of emotion.
Bonnie heaved, her breath enveloping the silence between them. A beat. “Why are you being like this?”
The Star closed her eyes. “What about you?”
Bonnie furrowed her brows. “Excuse me?”
“I am,” The Star pulled her knees up to her chest, “So tired. I don’t think I want to play this game anymore. You look tired too, so why do you keep coming back to me?”
Bonnie took a step back. What was she saying? Why was she being like this? This was the longest conversation they’d had in… Glob knows how long. “No, you keep coming back. You keep worming your way into my life with your stupid army, and your stupid vampiric tendencies!”
“So why,” the Star took a shaky breath, “did you come to the castle today?”
Bonnie swallowed. “I was keeping my team safe.”
“Oh really?” The Star chuckled darkly. “And how’s that working out for you?”
Bonnie had had enough. She lurched forward, grabbing the Stars chin and pushing her back against the wall of the tank. “Listen, star. I don’t need to give you a reason. I don’t need to give you anything. You’ve taken everything from me and my world, and now you’re following me everywhere I go. So I’ll do as I damn well please.”
The star chuckled with no traces of happiness. It was then that when Bonnie could smell the stench of alcohol emanating from the Star’s mouth, she’d realised the cause of her strange behaviour.
The Star was on a bender.
“Bonnie,” The Star’s head lay limp under Bonnie’s grasp. “Let’s just go back for a while. We can pretend for a night, okay?”
Bonnie’s breath was hoarse. “You’re- You’re not in your right mind. You need to leave.”
“I know you miss how it used to be, so you can cut it with the hard act.”
“Yeah?” Bonnie knelt down to her level, still attempting to maintain distance between them. “Well, kidnapping my friends isn’t exactly the best way to get me to sleep with you again.”
“I lied. They’re safe.” The Star’s voice was a whisper at this point. A small tear droplet appeared at the corner of her eye, but never fell. “They’re tied up in your tank basement.”
Bonnie's eyes widened. “Oh Marcy…” That had thrown her off entirely. She was not behaving normally.
For the life of her, Bonnie didn’t know why she was entertaining this monster. Perhaps their history had a stronger hold on her than she had anticipated.
“I know I did bad things.” Marceline’s head was now hung low, her shaggy hair covering her face. “And I know I’ll probably do some more. But I really can’t change who I am, Bonnie. This is how I’ll always be.”
They settled in this silence for a minute. Bonnie knew this entirely- she had to come to terms with it very early on, during one of their worser fights. Marceline had killed so many she’d known and loved, betraying her trust. But in turn, she had also killed the Marceline she knew. And though it pained Bonnie to admit it, she had known and loved her too.
“Bonnie, please.” Marceline pleaded further, desperation in her voice. “I can’t promise that I’ll change for you, but I can promise you that I’ll leave you alone.”
Bonnie tightened her lips. Marcy lifted her head. “If that’s what you want,” She breathed.
The air around them was tense. Years of unending rivalry between the two had condensed itself into this one singular moment.
Still, she couldn’t be too careful. She turned her back against Marceline. There was no need to hold her guard up against her in this state, anyway. “I want you to leave.”
Marceline’s voice hitched behind her. “I will, I’ll-”
“I want you to leave,” Bonnie rested her arms against the tanks steers, “And I want you to never mention any of this to me ever again.”
Bonnie heard a rustling of fabrics behind her. Slowly, she heard the advancing of footsteps, inching closer and closer. Bonnie was shaking at this point.
After a brief moment, the footsteps had faded. There was nothing but pure silence behind her.
She did not turn her back for a very long time.