When Rebekah pushed open the door to her brother's bedroom her nose immediately screwed up in disgust at the stench of sex, alcohol and stale blood that lingered in the air. He had the thick drapes pulled across the windows to prevent any source of sunlight getting into the uncomfortably stuffy room.

She sighed with annoyance and frustration when she saw her brother sprawled out on the bed with a body next to him. According to her phone calls to Elijah, this had started to become a bit of a habit for her brother in the last few months. He would drink himself stupid with alcohol and blood and finding company with whichever willing floozy he could find.

None of them managed to survive a night with Kol.

Not wanting to go any further into the room in fear that the smell would only get worse the closer she got, she grabbed the first object she could get her hands on and threw it at her brother. She watched with satisfaction as the empty liquor bottle hit him right in the stomach earning a groan from her brother.

"Just when I thought you couldn't possibly get any more disgusting," she stated and placed her hands on her hips, watching pitifully as her brother struggled to pull himself up in a sitting position.

He cast a look to the body lying next to him and casually pushed it off the bed, it hitting the floor with a thump.

"Charming," she commented flatly. "You are such a gentleman."

"What do you want, Bekah?" he asked tiredly and ran his fingers through his unruly hair.

"Well, I wouldn't object to you taking a shower," she answered as she walked over to the window and threw open the drapes to let in the afternoon rays of sun which caused her brother to wince. "I don't know which smells worse, you or the decaying body next to you which by the way I will not be cleaning up," she said and snatched an almost empty bottle of bourbon out of his hand before he could drink the rest of it. "We're supposed to be looking for our brother," she said and started to pick up the other two empty bottles from the table next to his bed. "I thought I would be able to count on you, Kol but clearly I can't.

Sometimes it was hard for her to remember if her brothers had always been such selfish creatures. Rebekah felt like she was the only one that actually wanted Elijah back. Klaus didn't care, it was him who stuck the dagger in their brother's chest and gave him to Marcel in the first place. She at least thought Kol would help her find their brother but he clearly didn't care either.

"Nik's taking care of it," he said and ran a hand down his face, willing his sister to disappear from his sight and from his hearing.

Rebekah scoffed and stepped over the body on the ground to pick up the last remaining empty bottle. "All he cares about is reclaiming our home. He'll leave Elijah in that box for another century if he has to," she picked up yet another bottle. "How much did you drink last night?"

"Some are from the other night," he said and slowly got up off the bed and grabbed a pair of jeans that were on the floor and slipped them on. He walked around to the other side and stood over the body of the girl from last night. She was a pretty one, probably early twenties with tanned skin and long, dark hair. "She was actually kind of nice, a good listener," he commented and knelt down next to her and pushed some hair back from her face.

"Then why'd you kill her?" Rebekah asked and watched her brother stand and grab the girl's arm to lift her up off the ground.

Kol shrugged and walked passed his sister and out of the room.

"Well, hurry up and get rid of her," she said and followed him down the stairs. "We need to talk about how we're going to find Elijah."

"How are we going to do that exactly?" Kol questioned his sister and walked through the kitchen towards the back door. "Marcel isn't going to tell us a bloody thing. He hates me more than anyone."

"With good reason," Rebekah muttered under her breath and dumped the empty bottles in the trash while Kol went outside to bury the bodies with the rest of the poor, unsuspecting victims Kol had lured to his bed over the past months.

"But I heard Nik mention that he has a thing for the blonde bartender at Rousseau's," Kol continued on when he came back inside and opened the fridge to get out a blood bag. "He compelled her to go on a date with Marcel."

"Why on earth would Niklaus compel Marcel a date?"

"To be his little spy," he answered. "He's compelled her to tell him anything about what Marcel does, who he talks to, where he goes."

Rebekah pursed her lips and thought for a moment, and when she managed to ignore the rising jealousy of hearing Marcel's interest in another woman, she believed that she may have just found the perfect leverage over Marcel.

"You have your scheming face on," Kol said and finished off the blood bag. "Be careful, Bekah, you know what Nik will do to you if you mess his plans up. You'll find yourself in the box next to Elijah's wherever that may be."

"Well, lucky for me I have my favourite big brother looking out for me," she replied with a candy sweet smile that had Kol arching a brow at her.

Kol gave his sister a blank look. "If I recall correctly, it wasn't too long ago that you put a dagger in my heart and took my girlfriend to an island where she was nearly killed." If Kol realised his slip he didn't show it but Rebekah sure as hell did but before she could even open her mouth to say something, Kol kept talking. "But whatever you have in stall for this bartender, count me out," he added. "I'm not getting in between you and Marcel."

"Do you have something more important to do than finding our brother?" Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her brother. "If it was you or I in that coffin and in the hands of the enemy he wouldn't rest until he found us so why are you so quick to give up on him?"

"I'm not giving up on him," Kol responded and leant against the cool metal of the fridge. "I want to find him as much as you do but aside from slaughtering every vampire in the French Quarter to do so, I'm out of ideas."

"I have an idea and if all goes to plan then Marcel will tell me exactly what I want to know."

"I like my plan better," Kol stated with an easy shrug. "I'm honestly surprised Nik hasn't killed his way back to our home."

"He doesn't just want our home back, he wants the entire empire that Marcel has built and that includes all the vampires and their loyalty and love. He can't gain that if he slaughters them all."

Kol tossed the empty blood bag in the trash. "Our brother's reach does tend to exceed his grasp. Now, I'm going to go take a shower," he said and walked out of the kitchen.

Rebekah watched her brother retreat from the kitchen with a frown on her face. The last time she had seen him act like this it earned him a dagger in the heart courtesy of both Elijah and Niklaus and Rebekah didn't want to see that happen again. He was slowly but surely losing control again. In the two days alone that she'd been here he's killed two humans and three vampires. She didn't even want to know the grand total of the months she was absent.

But unlike all the other times Kol goes on his rampages, Rebekah believed that he wasn't acting out because he wanted to or because he was enjoying it. Simply put, he missed her. It was impossible not to see it even if he tried so hard to hide it. His little slip of the tongue earlier hadn't been the first since he left Mystic Falls.

Rebekah understood why her brother felt the need to do what he did but at the same time she didn't. She'd never seen her brother love someone like he loved Bonnie; she'd never seen him happier than when he was with her. He loved her with everything and there was nothing he wouldn't do for her. She understood that he wanted to keep Bonnie safe from potential threats New Orleans could have for her, she understood that the events of what happened back in Mystic Falls when Bonnie had died had terrified him more than he would ever care to admit but she couldn't understand why he walked away, why he wouldn't at least give it a chance.

She was tired of seeing her brother like this, like a total wreck. Elijah had said that Kol followed him here to help but he's been nothing short of useless since she arrived and she had never wished for Elijah to be here more than she does now.

XXX

Kol left Rebekah in the kitchen and went back up to his room. He opened up the windows in attempt to get some fresh air throughout the room and maybe air out the stench that his sister was whining about. He ripped off the bloodstained sheets from his bed and tossed them towards the door before ridding his pants and heading to the shower.

He let the hot water wash away the dry blood that stained his skin here and there. His hair matted to his forehead under the spray so he slicked it back.

He had called her his girlfriend this morning and he had seen the flash of pity on his sister's face that made him act like he never said it in the first place. Rebekah had attempted to ask about her when she arrived a few days ago but Kol didn't say anything. Even Klaus had but he only asked once and Kol knew deep down that Klaus was only asking because he wanted Bonnie's power in New Orleans.

Elijah was the only one Kol was truthful with. He was the only one that Kol would let in and show how he really felt and as much as he hated to admit it, Elijah was the only one able to keep him in control right now. Whether he was just an ear for Kol to talk to or there to share a few words with, Elijah had been a comfort. But now he was daggered and stuck in a box somewhere they had no idea where, Rebekah could barely stand to be in the same room as Niklaus who only seems to care about regaining what he once lost while Kol spirals out of control a bit more each day.

These were the moments that he let himself feel and linger in the regret of the decision he made to walk away from her three months ago. These were the days that he allowed himself to wonder what it might have been like if she were here with him but then he thinks of Elijah and what Klaus was doing and he goes back to convincing himself that he made the right decision.

There was no need to get her all twisted up in their demented family drama. She'd only end up being a pawn in Niklaus' schemes and that wouldn't have been fair to her. She deserved a better future than one that would no doubt get her killed. He made a promise to her grandmother that he would keep her safe and if that meant that he had to stay away from her to do it then that's what he'd do.

He just wished that he could get her out of his head. The only time he isn't thinking about her is when he's killing, when he's feeding. But when the euphoric high from his kills wore off, his mind would always wander back to her. He dealt with it a little better when Elijah was around but without him, he was slowly turning back into the vampire he once was, the one that got him daggered numerous times for. The one that didn't care, the one that just wanted to kill for the sake of it and see how far he could push his brothers.

Kol turned off the shower and grabbed one of the towels hanging on the racks and wrapped it around his waist, using another to dry his hair before dropping it in the corner of the bathroom. When he walked back into his room he noticed the bloody sheets he threw at the door earlier were gone and a clean one had been fitted on his bed.

"You can talk to me, Kol, you know that," Rebekah said with a gentle tone from the door way. "I know you're still hurting."

"For someone who is always whining about how tired she is of cleaning up after us you certainly clean up after us a lot," he ignored what she said and went over to his closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and the first shirt he got his hands on.

Rebekah sighed and turned away as he got dressed. "Some habits you just can't kick, I guess."

"You don't need to hover over me, Rebekah," Kol complained when she followed him out of his room and towards the stairs. "I'm just going for some air."

"We both know that you aren't," she said quietly. "Just make sure this one doesn't stain the carpet like the last one did. I only just got the bloodstain out of the living room carpet last night."

Kol lazily waved his hand over his shoulder and made his way down the stairs.

XXX

Kol strolled into a bar that was one of the usual haunts for Marcel's nightwalkers. He took a seat up at the bar and pretended to ignore all the pairs of eyes that were glued on him. He couldn't help but smile at the nervousness that seeped into the air around him.

He flagged down the bartender and ordered himself a drink. Looking up, he did a headcount of the vampires in the bar. He frowned when he only counted seven vampires plus the four compelled humans. He had been hoping for more but he could make do with seven. He had also been hoping for vampires with spines but he lucked out there too. Not one of them had spoken let alone approached him since he walked in. The entire bar was covered with a layer of silence that pissed him off.

When the bartender placed his drink in front of him with shaky hands, Kol stared him down and the ridiculously skittish vampire all but ran back to the other side of the bar.

Kol shook his head in disappointment. This bar was clearly filled with the bottom end of Marcel's hierarchy.

"I'd have a lot more respect for you all if you actually bothered to say what you are so clearly thinking," he said and picked up his drink.

One near the back of the bar stood up and Kol smirked into his drink. He opened his mouth to say something but Kol didn't give him a chance to get a single word out before he was in front of him, hand in his chest, gripping his heart tight in his fist before he ripped it from the vampire's chest.

It sent the rest of the bar into a panic which picked his mood right up.

He grabbed the next closest vampire and threw him to the other side of the bar before grabbing the bartender who had gone straight for the door. His hand grabbed his arm tight and pulled, tearing the limb from his body before going for his heart. He then picked up a chair and broke off a leg and threw it in the direction of the vampire he threw away before, the wooden chair leg piercing his heart.

Another tried to jump him from behind but it was far too easy for Kol to overpower him and throw him to the ground. He grabbed the chair from before and slammed one of the legs into his chest, one of the others impaling his stomach. He picked up one of the sticks off the pool table and snapped it in half in his hands and stuck the ends in the guts of the two others simultaneously, slicing it up their sternums and ripped out their hearts.

He turned around to find the last remaining vampire only to see him being held up by Niklaus.

"Come to join in on the fun, brother?" Kol smirked and pushed back his hair with his bloody hand. "But I must warn you, they aren't exactly New Orleans' finest. Bit too easy for my liking."

Klaus didn't look amused at all. He swiftly snapped the neck of the vampire he was holding and let him fall to the ground. "What did I tell you, Kol?"

Kol shrugged and wandered towards the bar to grab a bottle of bourbon. "I'll admit, brother, I tend to zone out when you talk now."

"Well, let me remind you," Klaus all but growled as he stalked over to where the compelled humans were huddling behind a table. "I told you that I need to gain Marcel's trust if I am to reclaim our home," he reminded Kol and broke the necks of all four of them before turning back to Kol. "And I can't do that when my siblings are running around slaughtering his vampires like sheep."

Kol walked over to one of the bodies and nudged it with his boot. "I can't imagine anyone missing these ones, bottom of the barrel if you ask me."

"Yes well, Marcel has this inane sense of responsibility for them and gets a tad upset when they die, now please, let's go," he said and walked over to the only living vampire in the group and tossed him over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Kol asked and followed his brother out of the bar, taking a long pull of the bourbon. "Just leave him."

"I have a better idea," Klaus said, crossing the road to where his car was parked and dumped the vampire in the trunk. "We drain him of vervain and send him back to Marcel, compelled. Now get in the car."

"How'd you even know I was here?" Kol questioned and opened the car door.

"Believe it or not, Kol but you're not exactly the hardest vampire to track down," Klaus answered and started up the car. "And you've been quite predictable lately."

Kol mumbled under his breath and took another drink while silence fell over the two brothers and while Kol was quite content with it, Klaus was not. Kol was certain his hybrid brother just loved the sound of his own voice.

"I know you're not pleased with what I've done to Elijah but -"

Kol cut him off by waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "I really do not care for your reasoning's, Niklaus. You put a dagger in our brother's heart and handed him over to Marcel like he meant nothing. There is no reason that you could possibly give me that could make me understand that."

"Your actions aren't making the situation any better," Klaus growled out and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "You have always put Marcel on edge."

Kol turned to glare at his brother, an icy stare that Klaus refused to meet. "I don't care if I have to kill every human, vampire and witch in this city to get Elijah back. I don't care if I have to burn this city to the ground, I'll do it."

"If you're not careful, you might join him," Klaus responded to his brother's threats with bite.

Kol gave a low and spiteful laugh. "I invite you to try it. I've got nothing to lose and a break from my bastard brother might do me a world of good."

Klaus sighed and let his head fall back against the headrest. "This is all because of her, isn't it?" the hybrid questioned.

Kol growled, a low rumbling in his chest that told Klaus to shut the hell up but of course his brother was never one to listen to a warning.

"I know you miss her and I understand that Elijah had been somewhat of a support for you-"

"Don't," Kol cut him off with another growl. "Don't suddenly start acting like you care."

"I do care, Kol," Klaus replied, his tone softening just a bit but Kol didn't allow himself to be fooled by it. "I know I don't always show it in the best of ways if at all but I do."

"If you want to show that you care then get Elijah back," Kol said to him. "For all our sakes because you need him just as much as Rebekah and I do."

"Then we need to form a plan," Klaus said, his mind starting to tick over potential ideas. "Marcel won't just hand him over."

"My offer to burn this city to the ground is still on the table," Kol replied and held the bottle out to his brother, his own version of a peace offering. "You might have some sentimental attachment to Marcel but I sure as hell do not. I could torture him into giving our home back if you'd like. It would give me great pleasure."

"Marcel stole what we built and took it for his own," Klaus took the bourbon from his brother and took a drink of it before handing it back. "Taking it back will be far sweeter with him alive than dead."

XXX

As to be expected early the next morning Klaus received a phone call from a very furious Marcel.

"Hello, Marcel," he answered the phone with a devilish grin.

"Heard your brother went on another rampage last night," Marcel said. "I'm at a bar owned by one of my nightwalkers and it looks like a slaughterhouse. I got six dead vampires and four dead humans."

"And you just assume that is was my dear brother's doing?" Klaus asked, feigning offence while grinned into the phone. "Marcel, I thought we were past this."

"I got a guy who saw your brother go into the bar and I know it was Kol because I know him and what I see in here has that maniac written all over it," he told him and Klaus heard bottles smashing in the background. "I thought you said you'd keep your siblings in line."

"No, I said I'd have a better chance draining the Mississippi with a straw," he corrected his favourite sire. "Short of sticking them with a dagger, controlling my siblings is next to impossible."

"Look, Klaus, I'm happy you're here, really, I am. But your brother has taken out twenty of my guys since he got here and the rest of them are on edge," he tried to get through to Klaus. "Not to mention all the locals that have mysteriously gone missing since he arrived and the incident at that restaurant not a week after he got here. I don't care if you have stick a dagger in his heart, do it. You've done it before. I've seen you do it him twice already."

"He'll calm down," Klaus told his former protégé. "He's still sore that I stuck him in a box after his directorial debut. I'm sure you still remember that evening."

"Yeah and that's why I'm worried about him being here for too long."

"Nonsense," Klaus shook off Marcel's concerns. "He'll be fine and if it continues his coffin is ready and waiting I assure you." He caught the pencil Rebekah threw at his head with ease. "I'll talk you to later, Marcel, Rebekah is demanding my attention and you know how difficult she gets when ignored."

"Don't you even think about it, Niklaus," Rebekah sneered at her brother when Klaus ended the call with Marcel. "Not after I just told you of Marcel's witch. You can't hand Kol over to them, too."

"Calm down, sister it won't come to that," Klaus assured her and dropped his phone on his desk. "I made a promise to get Elijah back and I intend to keep that promise."

Rebekah's brow furrowed. "You never promised."

"Not to you, to Kol. Last night," he said and sat on the office chair and rolled his eyes at his sister's expression. "Honestly, Rebekah, you don't need to look so surprised. And to be truthful, it's less about Elijah and more of not wanting a repeat of the last time Kol was in New Orleans. He racked up quite the body count, even I was impressed."

"Speaking of our brother, where is he?" Rebekah asked and pushed herself up off the couch. "I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"He's teaching young Joshua the art of draining vervain from a vampire, why?"

"Because I may have a solution, to both our problems and he will not like it so it's best not to discuss it while he is around."

A smirked formed on Klaus' face. There was only one topic that Kol had refused to be talked about between them all. "Bonnie Bennett," Klaus grinned wolfishly. "Now she would be a much needed addition around here."

"And not just for her magic," Rebekah added and walked over to where Klaus kept his alcohol. "If she is here then he'll behave himself and you can stop with the dagger threats. Plus, it would be nice to have someone we can trust in this town."

"Do you think you'll be able to pull her away from Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked and leant back in his chair, lacing his fingers together over his chest.

"She no longer resides in Mystic Falls," Rebekah told him and poured herself and Klaus a drink. "After Kol left, Lucy took her to meet the rest of the Bennett family up near Salem somewhere. She's been living there ever since. But as for convincing her to come here, well that may be easier said than done. Last I saw of her she was heartbroken."

"Just tug on those heartstrings of hers, she'll come eventually," Klaus said, smirk still in place. "Witches in distress and being terrorised by vampires and Kol's evil bastard brother who is planning to stick a dagger in his heart, she won't be able to stay away."

"Want to bet?" Rebekah argued and leant on the doorframe after handing Klaus his drink. "Kol broke her heart. Having a dagger in his might perk her up a bit." Rebekah didn't want to lie to Bonnie and she didn't want to use guilt or manipulation to force her to help them.

'"I speak from experience when I say Bonnie has always responded well to threats against her loved ones and lucky for us, it seems she's found a lot more of them," Klaus offered her a suggestion and smiled when he was met with Rebekah's glare.

"Leave her be, Nik. I'm just going to talk to her and if she doesn't want to come here then fine, we'll just have to make do with Sophie Deveraux and her coven of incompetence."

"That would be unfortunate," Klaus said and rolled his tongue over his teeth. "Try bribery."

XXX

Bonnie almost let her phone ring out before she mustered up the courage to pick it up and answer it. She had been more than a bit surprised to see Rebekah's name flash on the screen. The last time she had spoken to Rebekah was when she returned home after spending a few weeks in Europe with her and Matt. It was also supposed to be the last time because according to Rebekah, he wanted her to have an Original free life.

"Hello?" she said and waited for the Original's reply, almost dreading it.

"Bonnie," Rebekah said her name like a sigh of relief which confirmed that Bonnie wasn't going to like what she was calling for. "I wasn't sure if maybe you had changed your number since we last spoke."

"For a while I thought about it," she admitted with a small but forced laugh.

She decided against it because as much as she wanted to be left alone after Kol walked away from her and Lucy took her away from Mystic Falls, she didn't want to abandon her friends in case they needed her. And maybe deep down she had hoped that she would get a call from an Original vampire one day, just not the one who had ended up contacting her.

"How have you been?" the blonde asked with a sincerity that Bonnie appreciated. Bonnie had been a wreck when Rebekah first approached her after Kol walked away and the time away with Rebekah and Matt had done her the world of good. She hadn't been so miserable when she returned.

Bonnie took in a breath before she took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Fine, I guess," she answered. "I'm assuming things aren't going all that great on your end."

Rebekah was silent on the other line but Bonnie could still hear all kinds of commotion in the background. "You could say that," she said. "Niklaus is a traitorous bastard but I'm sure you were already aware of that."

Bonnie made a sound of agreement. "So you're in New Orleans? I thought you wanted nothing to do with the place."

"I didn't but about two weeks ago I stopped hearing from Elijah and couldn't get a hold of him and it took Kol a week to call and tell me that Niklaus had once again stuffed our brother in a box," Bonnie could almost feel Rebekah's anger and frustration through the phone. "So now here I am and everything is a total mess and is getting worse by the day."

"Why did it take so long for him to call you?" Bonnie wondered as that didn't seem like Kol.

"Now that is a different story all together. I honestly don't even think Kol had even noticed he's been that out of it lately," Rebekah answered, the blonde so frustrated that she started rambling. "I've got one brother stuck in a coffin somewhere I can't get to him, another hell bent on taking back what he thinks was stolen from him by any means necessary and the other spiralling out of control a bit more every day."

Bonnie bit her tongue to stop herself from asking what was wrong with Kol. He wasn't her concern anymore; she just needed to keep reminding herself that.

"Why don't you just get out of there and leave them to sort their own crap out?" Bonnie asked her. "Just because they are your brothers doesn't mean they are your responsibility. You don't have to put your life on hold for them."

She heard Rebekah sigh. "Believe me, Bonnie, if Elijah didn't have a dagger in his heart I'd be nowhere near this hell hole but he does and I can't leave him. I'm not going to let Nik take any more years from Elijah or any of us if I can help it."

"I take it you're ringing me to help you find where Klaus put him."

"I know where he is, or at least I knew where he was," she started and Bonnie waited for her to elaborate. "Nik gave Elijah to Marcel who has a witch, a very powerful one, and she wiped my memories of the location after throwing me out of a window. The little bitch."

"Isn't New Orleans full of other witches that can help you?"

"All the witches here have been neutered. If they use magic Marcel's witch will sense it and that witch will be killed so they cower in their little sanctuary and plot but don't seem to actually do anything," she explained to her. "And to be honest, I wouldn't trust any of them even if my life depended on it."

"So, you want a witch on your side who you know and trust," Bonnie guessed and Rebekah's silence gave her answer. "You've been around for a thousand years and you don't have any other witch you can trust?"

"None that have power over Kol like you do," she said and Bonnie jumped to her feet.

"Forget it, Rebekah," Bonnie immediately shut her down. "I've already gone through this once before, remember? I have no desire to do it all over again," she said remembering back to when the Salvatore's thought it would be a fantastic idea to use Kol's interest in her to their advantage.

"That is not what I am asking; believe me I don't want to hurt my brother any more than he already is. All I'm saying is that your presence alone will be enough for him to behave himself otherwise he's going to end up in the coffin next to Elijah."

Bonnie sighed and ran a hand through her newly short hair before resting it on her hip. She didn't know what to do. Part of her was jumping to know Kol clearly still missed her but the other part of her wanted to stay far away from him, wanted to move on from him for good.

"Bonnie, I'm not going to force you to come here," Rebekah said and Bonnie could tell that she was moving to a more quiet location to continue their conversation. "I'm only asking and if you choose to say no, it's completely okay. It's up to you."

"Are force and emotional manipulation not the same thing?"

"I'm not trying to manipulate you, Bonnie. I'm just telling you the truth," Rebekah assured her. "I remember seeing you after Kol left, you were broken and even after meeting the rest of your family and coming to Europe with Matt and I, you still felt that heartache."

Bonnie nearly laughed. "It had only been two months, Bekah of course I was still going to be hurting. Having fun in Europe wasn't going to suddenly fix me and going to New Orleans just to make Kol clean his act up sure as hell isn't going to work."

"I don't want it to work, I want it to snap my brother out of his moronic state and make him admit that he made a mistake when he chose Niklaus over you," Rebekah said and before Bonnie could object to that she continued. "Like I said, I saw how much you were hurting and Kol is hurting just as much, if not more only now it's showing because he no longer has Elijah to help him through it."

"Rebekah…"

"Okay, if you don't want to come here for Kol, how about for me?" Bonnie felt like she could actually see the smile on the Original's face. "I need a kickass witch on my side and it'd be even better if that witch was a friend. You and I would make a great team. Maybe we could take over the city for ourselves."

Bonnie found herself laughing, a real one for once. "That would really piss Klaus off."

"My new purpose in life, I believe."

"I'm not saying yes but I guess I'm not saying no either," Bonnie said, mulling over what Rebekah was saying. "Can I think about it?"

"Of course you can," Rebekah said, satisfied that she hadn't said no outright and was at least taking the time to consider it. "I'll wait for your call."

Bonnie said a quick goodbye to Rebekah and ended the call. She let out a heavy breath and dropped her phone on the bed before sitting back down with her head in her hands. She didn't know what to do. It was something that was completely her choice. She had no obligation to go and help them, it was up to her and yet she had no clue what she wanted.

On one hand it sounded like an okay idea. She'd get to see New Orleans, a place she'd always wanted to go to (even if it was in a supernatural state of disarray) and would see Rebekah again. But on the other hand, there was Klaus. There were vampires with a hatred for witches and apparently a powerful witch who shared in that hatred.

Then there was Kol. Bonnie honestly did not know if being in the same city as him would be a good or a bad thing. It was only recently that she had started to finally feel like she was going to be okay, that the pain was starting to pass and she could see the light at the end of the tunnel and could move on. She didn't want to risk moving backwards. Not when she had her own future to think about now.

She contemplated calling Lucy to ask what she thought of it all but decided not to disturb her while she was away. Her cousin deserved a break after all the crap that had happened back at Mystic Falls. Bonnie then figured that if she couldn't talk to Lucy, then maybe talking to Joanna would be the next best thing. Joanna always had a way of getting people to open up to her; she was so much like Grams which wasn't too surprising considering she was Grams' eldest daughter.

She picked herself up and headed down stairs to the kitchen, just in time to see her aunt pull a tray out of the oven and place it on top of the stove to cool down for a bit. The older woman looked up and smiled when she saw Bonnie take a seat on one of the stools near the kitchen counter.

"What's with the mountain of cupcakes?" Bonnie asked as she looked around the kitchen to see two large wire racks full of cupcakes plus the two large trays she just pulled out of the oven.

"Kendra and Allison have that fundraiser for their school tomorrow plus showing off that newly renovated stage area," she said and pulled out another rack from the cabinet near the oven and set it down where she could find some free space. "And while Evelyn has many talents, cooking isn't one of them," she added with a laugh. "If it wasn't for James I swear those girls would be over here every night for dinner."

Bonnie let out a small laugh and accepted the cupcake her aunt handed her.

"You're coming to the fundraiser, right?" Joanna asked and placed another tray of cupcake batter into the oven.

Bonnie nodded and picked at the cupcake, not having much of an appetite after her phone call. "Yeah, Kendra wants to show off that guy she's into."

Joanna chuckled and went about cleaning up the bowl stained with cake batter. "Of course she does. I wonder if that's the same boy she was rattling on about last month. She has so many crushes it's hard to keep track of them."

"She says he's the same one but Allison is trying to tell her that he isn't, apparently he's the best friend of the old crush."

"That sounds about right," Joanna shook her head and placed the bowl in the dishwasher. Turning back around to grab the smaller bowl, she noticed Bonnie staring into the cupcake absentmindedly. "You okay, honey? You look a little off," Joanna asked as she closed the dishwasher after putting the other bowl in it. "Is it about that call you just got? I heard you talking upstairs when I went up to grab my phone."

Bonnie sighed and put the uneaten cupcake on the counter. "You remember that girl I went to meet up with in London?"

Joanna nodded. "The Original vampire, Rebekah, I think you said her name was."

"Yeah, well that was her on the phone."

She heard her aunt sigh and leant against the other side of the counter. "Let me guess, vampire drama and they want a witch to get them out of it?"

"More of a just in case but it's not just magic they want help with," Bonnie said and looked down at her hands. "Rebekah spoke about Kol. She told me that he's not doing so well. That Klaus is close to putting a dagger in his chest."

Joanna remained silent but Bonnie could tell that there was something running through her mind.

"I know he's not my concern or responsibility," she continued. "But he doesn't deserve that."

"There has got to be more to it than just a case of him needing to be put on a leash," Joanna said. "I am aware of what is going on in New Orleans. Katrina visited not long ago; she wasn't there a day before she left. She didn't like how many vampires were there. I don't know the full story but I know it's not great there right now for a witch."

Bonnie nodded her head. "That's the other reason Rebekah wants me there. Apparently the witches there can't do magic and if they do they are caught and killed by the vampires," Bonnie told Joanna the brief explanation she got from the Original. "Rebekah said something about a witch being on the side of the vampires and could sense whenever the witches do magic. I don't know what good I would be if they have a witch who senses magic."

"Like I said, I don't know much about what is going on but I do know that the witches in New Orleans practice Ancestral magic," Joanna told her. "So I would assume that this witch can probably only sense Ancestral magic. It's not like Spirit or Expression. That is why they would want you there."

"How does Ancestral differ from Spirit magic?" Bonnie asked her aunt curiously. They both sounded very similar.

"Witches who practice Ancestral magic get their power from the ancestors that they have consecrated into the earth. Their magic is fuelled by their ancestors. It's very powerful but it also has limits. They cannot access their magic outside where the bones have been consecrated, not even Traditional magic," Joanna explained to her. "So you with your Expression plus your access to Spirit magic, you'd be pretty damn useful to the Originals right about now. What do they want there, anyway?"

"They used to live there or something like that and Klaus is obsessed with getting it back."

"Are you thinking about going?" There wasn't any judgment in her aunt's voice, just curiosity.

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she answered with a sigh. "I told Rebekah that I'd think it over but I really don't know. I kind of want to know what you think of it, if I should go or not."

"Are you worried about going because you don't want to get involved in a war or because you don't want to risk seeing a certain someone and getting your heart broken again?"

"Are you asking me if Kol wasn't a factor would I go?" she looked to Joanna who shrugged. "Maybe," Bonnie said. "I have all this power, I still have Expression. What's the point of having it all if I don't use it? At least in New Orleans, I could do something with it. Maybe I could help the witches or something."

"Okay, so we've taken Kol out of the equation and decided that you'd probably go," Joanna said and went to take the last of the cupcakes out of the oven. "Now let's throw his ass back in. Would you still go?"

"Rebekah said that me just being there would be enough for him to pull his act together," Bonnie relayed what her friend had said. "But I don't know how I feel about that. I don't want to go if all I'm going to be doing is being Kol's babysitter, to make sure he doesn't push Klaus too far."

"Fair enough," Joanna agreed. "What's your relationship like with the Originals, anyway? You don't speak much of them and they seem rather fond of you so I'm curious. I know that our families go way back to the beginning but none of us have met them except for you and Lucy and well," she looked down and her voice softened, "…Abby but that didn't end well for her."

"Grams, too," Bonnie added softly. "Klaus mentioned to me a while back that he knew her, back in the seventies. He said he liked her."

"Huh," Joanna mused with a hint of a smile. "I didn't know that about my mother. She never mentioned that she met the Originals but I guess that explains why she had a lot of knowledge on them."

"So you know that Ayana was our ancestor and Esther's closest friend and mentor?" Bonnie asked and her aunt nodded.

"That, I did know. I also know that Ayana had no part in making them vampires which I take great comfort in."

"Then I won't tell you about Qetsiyah," Bonnie mumbled. Ayana might not have had a part in making the Originals what they were today but the immortality spell already existed thanks to their other ancestor, Qetsiyah.

"Well, now, you have to, but in a bit. First I want to hear about your ties to the Originals."

Bonnie chewed at the inside of her cheek, thinking back to the first time she met an Originals vampire. She knew of Elijah but she had yet to meet him when she found herself facing Klaus in Alaric's body.

"I met Klaus first and ever since then we just seem to go back and forth with trying to kill each other," she said and found herself smiling for some reason. "There were times that we got along but mostly we didn't."

"That seems to be the way with most vampires and witches these days," Joanna smirked.

"Then there was Elijah who I didn't particularly like. I thought he was a double crossing bastard but I suppose my time with Kol and the Original family changed my views on all of them because I do like Elijah and it sucks hearing what Klaus has done to him."

Bonnie didn't mention anything about Elijah's relationship with Lucy, not sure if her cousin had shared that bit of information with her mother.

"I didn't have much to do with Rebekah until I started spending more time with Kol. The thing about Rebekah is that she is incredibly misunderstood. For a thousand years Klaus has lied to her and tried to control her and all she really wants is just to settle down somewhere, have a somewhat normal life."

During her time away with Rebekah and Matt, Rebekah opened up a lot to Bonnie in hopes that she would do the same. Rebekah told her that she wished she lived and died back when she was human, that she'd do anything for a chance at a normal existence away from Klaus.

"I never had much to do with Finn at all," Bonnie continued. "He had been kept daggered for nine hundred years and he hated what he was so he kept to himself mostly. He and Esther were the ones that planned to destroy the Originals. The plan was to link them all together and then for Finn to sacrifice himself which would kill the rest of them. In the end he was killed by Elena and Matt."

"And now we get to the one I really want to hear about," her aunt grinned. "Lucy told me a bit about you and Kol," Joanna said and came around the counter to sit on the stool next to her. "She told me you were forced to get close to him in hopes of turning him against the others or something."

"I wasn't forced," she objected to the term used. "And while it wasn't my idea and I didn't want to do it, I agreed anyway."

"And somewhere along the way you developed some pretty strong feelings for him and him for you."

"I didn't realise how strongly I felt for him until it was too late," she said and started to twist her ring around her finger. "I was in love with him before I knew it. I had never felt anything like I did when I was him."

Looking back, Bonnie can now see that somewhere along the way back in Mystic Falls she stopped seeing her own worth as an actual person and started to only see her worth as a witch. It was Kol that made her see that she was worth more than what she could do for people.

"And you're still in love with him. And you miss him," Joanna said quietly. "Which is why you don't want to go because if you do, one of two things will happen; you'll get back together or you won't and you don't know which one you want yet." Bonnie remained quiet so Joanna continued. "You want to move on from him as much as you don't want to so I think seeing him again would be a good thing because it'll show you which one you want."

Bonnie sighed then shook her head at her aunt. "It doesn't matter what I want. He's the one that left. He's the one that didn't want me there."

"Then don't go there for him. Rebekah is the one who called you. She's the one who wants you there. Ignore him if you have to, make him grovel," her aunt smirked with a playful wickedness that made Bonnie smile.

"So you think I should go?"

"I think you should do what you think is best for you," Joanna told her and reached to place a hand on her shoulder. "I have faith that you'll be okay there and if something does happen to you, we'll be there to raise a little hell on all of them. But if you are still not sure then I say sleep on it and decide tomorrow. No need to decide right now. Hell, take a week to decide if you need."

Bonnie let out a sigh then nodded.

"Great," Joanna clapped her hands together and got up off the stool. "Now that is somewhat settled, you want to help me with the icing and maybe tell me about this Qetsiyah who believe it not I did not know was our ancestor?"

XXX

The next day at the fundraiser Bonnie was approached by Katrina while she watched on in pity as Kendra came down with a case of the rambles in front of the guy she liked.

"God, she can be so awkward sometimes," Katrina laughed as she eyed her younger cousin. "I don't even want to know what she's saying to him right now."

"By the look on his face, nothing good," Bonnie couldn't help but laugh as well. She looked over to find Allison shaking her head in shame at her twin.

"Aunt Jo told me you might be heading to the French Quarter," Katrina said and moved her sun glasses to the top of her head. "I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this but if you do go, you need to be careful. The place is full of vampires."

"I don't know if I'm going to go," Bonnie replied and shoved her hands into her pocket. "I haven't decided yet but the more I think about it, the more I feel like I want to go."

"Then go," Katrina encouraged. "It's not like once you get there you can never leave. If you don't like it then there's nothing stopping you coming back home."

"I guess you're right," she pondered what Katrina had said and decided that she was right. If she went she could always come back if she found that it wasn't a good idea.

"Of course I am," Kat said and smirked over at Kendra who was being dragged along by Allison. "I'd go with you if I didn't have to go back to college in a few days but maybe if you're still there on break I can come and visit."

"You'd go back there?" Bonnie asked and Katrina nodded.

"It's not somewhere I'd want to be on my own."

"Thanks a lot Alli!" the two of them heard the sixteen year old cry at out her sister. "You embarrassed me!"

"Oh honey, you were doing that all on your own," Kat piped up when they were close enough. "How is it that you managed to forget every pointer I gave you but remembered the ones I told you not to do?"

"I was nervous!" Kendra huffed. "I swear if he asked my name I wouldn't have been able to answer. It's the eyes!"

"He does have nice eyes," Allison agreed with her twin.

Bonnie excused herself from the three of them and walked towards the large tree in a more secluded part of the area and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She took her time scrolling through her list of contacts until she got to the R's and her finger hovered over Rebekah's name and number. She pressed the call button before she could talk herself out of it and held the phone to her ear and waited for the Original to pick up.

"Hey, Bonnie," Rebekah greeted her, voice hopeful.

"Hey," she replied and rubbed the back of her neck, hoping she wasn't about to make a huge mistake. "How soon do you need me there?"

XXX

AAAAAAAAAAAND WE'RE BACK!

I hope you're all as excited as I am for this sequel. So much potential with New Orleans and the witches and Bonnie! Can't wait!

I also hope you didn't find this chapter too boring but the family relationships are just as important as the romantic ones in this fic. The Bennett family will be explored so this will not be the last you see of them. I have big plans for them1

Now, I wrote pretty much all of it before Alive and Kicking aired but I added a few references from that episode in while editing. The directorial debut was Kol's re-enactment of Hamlet with young Marcel.

The next chapter will be up soon and I do mean soon. I know I haven't been the best when it comes to updating but I'm aiming for weekly updates if I can keep this rhythm up. I have chapter two already written and ready for editing and I'm about to start chapter three. I plan to have the next chapter written or almost done and waiting before I update with a new chapter.

Also, any mistakes you'll find in this I apologise for and please review and let me know what you think! Again, I really hope you liked it!

XXX