EDIT: Now spell-checked. Sorry about the botched formatting and muddled tenses earlier.
PLOT: As per the show, Klaus is trying to break the hybrid curse, only this time he knows Elena's whereabouts from very early on. He becomes a mentor to her best friend, Bonnie, as a means of keeping tabs on the doppelganger and also preparing Bonnie for the ritual (to use her as his witch). It all escalates from there. It's very episodic. Between every line break, there's a time gap of a few months to a few years.
HURRICANE COMING ALL AROUND US
SONGFIC; BONNIE x KLAUS
SAY WHEN by THE FRAY
I see you there, don't know where you come from. Unaware of a stare from someone; don't appear to care that I saw you, and I want you.
It is Elijah, his ubiquitous brother, who first tells him the time is near. How he knew, Klaus could only guess, but the news filled him with an anticipation he hadn't felt in centuries.
"What brings you here, brother?"
"The doppelganger is born," Elijah intoned. Klaus was apprehensive.
"How do you know?"
"I've been watching the family, Niklaus. Tracking them. She was born this day five years prior in a town called Mystic Falls."
And that is how the ageless vampire found himself in this town, camouflaging himself in the dense foliage of the public park. The doppelganger was young, eyes sweet with innocence as she played with a circular red disc. He sank into daydreams of his grand plans, the things he would accomplish when he finally unlocked his full potential. He had been waiting long enough – no soul could dispute that – and his rise was near. So close…
"Excuse me, sir?" lisped a tiny caramel-skinned girl with a halo of fluffy brown curls framing her dimpled face. "Sorry, but my friend-" she gestured to where the doppelganger was frowning meekly several feet away, "—threw our Frisbee too far. Can we have it back…please?"
Klaus frowned, only just noticing the red disc that had swept into the foliage where he stood. How was she able to see him? He had a witch cast a camouflaging spell prior to entering Mystic Falls, lest he make his entrance too soon.
"Bon, who are you talking to?" the doppelganger shrieked. "I'm telling your grams!"
The girl – what had the doppelganger called her? – frowned and dragged her large hazel eyes up to him inquisitively.
"Why can't my friends see you? Caroline said there was no man in the bushes but I said there was, but she said-"
Klaus couldn't believe this. His guise was being compromised by a five year old girl who apparently lacked any sense of self-preservation.
"Run along, little girl," he hissed. He wondered how many others in the park could see him.
"That's rude," she declared, hands on her hips.
Klaus swore under his breath. He was seconds away from removing this child's head from her neck when an old woman pulled her roughly away.
"Who are you?" she demanded, squinting at him through hazel eyes identical to the little girl's.
"I could ask you the same question."
"You are not meant to be here, devil spawn. Be gone!" she spat. He was mildly impressed at the venom the tiny old lady packed.
He cocked an eyebrow at her retreating back and vaguely heard her tell the little girl that he was a 'bad man'.
Witches, he deduced silently.
What's your name? Because I have to know it. You let me in, and begin to show it.
For the second time in his week-long stay in Mystic Falls, Klaus's cover was blown.
"I know what you are," the coy waitress smirked. Klaus knew instantly that he had walked into the wrong bar.
"Is that right?" He feigned boredom, masking the dread that was just settling in.
Slowly, one by one, all the men in the bar – large, hulking oafs with more muscles than brains – stood and marched menacingly toward him.
"Silly vampire," the waitress snarled. "Didn't you know this is a werewolf-only haunt?"
Klaus heard knuckles cracking and nefarious laughter as he was slowly backed into a corner.
"Well, it was lovely-" Before he could finish any number of wisecracks he'd thought up on the spot, all hell broke loose.
The next few minutes were a montage of gushing blood, cracked bones and too many blows to the groin than he would care to remember. He fought his way out of that godforsaken bar, holding his stomach to still the blood spilling at an alarming rate. He was used to pain – the centuries had hardened him – and so it was with gritted teeth that he ran as far from the bar as possible.
He wasn't sure how long he travelled or in what direction. He eventually resorted to slinking through suburban backyards to lose his attackers. His energy gave out in a particularly pungent backyard where vervain blossomed; not only vervain, but Belladonna, Nightshade and Mandrake among an assortment of other unusual plants with one thing in common.
This was a witch's garden, he realised miserably.
"Hello?" a familiar lisp sounded. "Who's there?"
Klaus groaned. "Go away," he panted gruffly.
"You're the bad man from the park," the little girl said matter-of-factly. Despite this, she stood her ground, clutching a stuffed bear in one hand.
"Yes. A very, very bad man. Run along now. Argh!" he doubled over. Bones snapped into place as his body tried to heal itself.
"You're hurt!" she cooed, scampering closer and bending over his weak body. "What happened?"
It took all he had not to crush her tiny little neck between his hands. Instead, he sighed and leaned back, letting his body heal in peace.
"Just don't make a noise," he sighed. "I got into a…tussle."
"You were fighting?" She gasped.
"I was attacked," he corrected her.
She set aside her stuffed toy and let her hands hover over his wounds. Klaus's eyes widened in disbelief as a warm feeling spread through his abdomen, alleviating the pain. The blood stilled and he felt fresh skin mask the gruesome injury.
"You're a witch then?" he said conversationally.
"No. I'm a Bonnie. What are you?"
Klaus frowned before dissolving into laughter. "Your name is Bonnie, you mean?"
"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "And what's yours?"
"Niklaus," he said, watching her face for any sudden reaction. She cocked her head to one side.
"That's an unusual name."
"Yes, it is."
"I have to go."
"Aren't you scared the bad men will find you?"
"Not really, no." He chuckled. "I've faced worse. Take care, Bonnie."
"Bye, Nicky!" She grinned widely.
He returned her sleepy smile before disappearing into the night.
I'm terrified because you're headed straight for it, might get it…
"The doppelganger is too young," Klaus tells his brother months later.
"You're growing soft, Niklaus."
"No," Klaus said casually, unaffected by the insult. "What's the rush? I've waited centuries, Elijah. I can give this girl another sixteen, seventeen years to enjoy her life. What little she experiences, that is. Besides, I've found a suitable witch. She's the same age as the doppelganger – they're close friends."
"Are you sure she's powerful enough?"
"A Bennett witch, Elijah. Descended from Ayanna herself. Once she performs the ritual, I can use her to bring back Mother. We'll be a family again."
Elijah scoffed, shaking his head. "This is a mistake, brother."
"Then let me make it…brother.
Elijah held his hands up in surrender and departed, leaving the hybrid to his thoughts.
Klaus watched the doppelganger closely. He was given a chance to repay his debt to the witch two years later. The pair were accosted at the very same park he first found them two years ago.
"Hey, give that back!" Elena shrieked as the tall, beefy high schoolers held her soccer ball above reach of her height.
"Or else!" the witch added, fury colouring her cheeks.
"Or else what?" The boys laughed raucously.
Klaus rolled his eyes. Typical humans. Forever amused by attacking weaker beings.
"Now, now," he drawls lazily as he strides toward to bickering group. "You don't want to do that."
"Oh yeah?" sneered the boy. "And who are you?"
Klaus felt his fangs descend and his eyes darken horrifically. The boys screamed at an alarmingly high pitch before dropping the ball and scampering away. The doppelganger, just off to his right, emitted a piercing scream before running as far away as her little legs could carry her.
Klaus felt his face relax into his human guise and rubbed his chin to alleviate the tension still locked there.
"How do you do that?" a soft voice asked curiously.
Klaus turned, somewhat alarmed to find the little witch blinking up at him iniquisitively.
"You're not frightened?" he asked sceptically.
"You scared Elena," she told him. "That wasn't very nice. But you scared those boys too. So…thank you, Nicky."
"You remember me?"
She nodded, beaming proudly. "Grams says I have a sep-shunal memory!"
"Exceptional," he corrected her, dry humour apparent in his voice.
"So can you teach me?"
"No…" he begins slowly. "But I can teach you other things. About magic."
"That isn't real," she says stubbornly.
"Oh, isn't it?"
"Nope." She looks around warily before admitting, "Well, sometimes…I can do things. And Elena says it's not normal to do them. Like, when Billy Munroe put gum in my hair last year, he couldn't find his favourite toy after lunch break. And when I came home," she paused to look ashamed, "It was in my closet."
Klaus nodded. "I can teach you how to do that again. And other things."
"But it's scary. It feels scary."
"It's perfectly natural."
And so began their lessons, every week for the next decade. Klaus would disappear, sometimes for months at a time, but he was surprised at how easily they resumed their lessons afterward. She was a quick learner and within a few years, her skills astounded even him.
You're in the song playing on the background. All alone, but you're turning up now.
"Elena's the pretty one," she complained to him.
She was fourteen, trapped in that unfortunate stage of adolescence where one was reed-thin and lanky. Her features hadn't quite settled yet but the spots had cleared up, thankfully.
"Matt Donovan asked her to prom," she sighed.
"That pretty boy quarterback?" Klaus scoffed.
"Be nice, Nik. Matt is cute and polite and smart…" She sighed wistfully.
"I can't believe you're fantasizing about some human boy who busses tables for a living."
"Haven't you ever been in love, Nik?"
"How about you keep practicing that levitation spell, and we'll talk once you get it perfect."
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "How come you don't introduce me to any witches?"
"Getting bored of my company, are we?" he teased.
Bonnie blushed. "Don't be silly," she murmured. She turned her back to him and hoped he didn't hear her heart rate picking up or sense the butterflies dancing erratically in her stomach.
And everyone is rising to meet you, to greet you…
"Nik!" Bonnie looked alarmed. "What are you doing here?"
It was the Founders' Day dance and Bonnie had spent three hours getting dolled up, only to spend the night watching her two best friends dance with their dates.
"How was it?" Klaus asked.
"The dance?" She blinked stupidly.
"No, the rodeo you went to in that dress." He rolled his eyes.
"Terrible," she admitted. "Matt and Elena were being all lovey-dovey. Caroline had her date and-"
Bonnie choked back tears. Klaus frowned, taking several steps closer.
"Sshhh…" He rubbed her forearms. His pale blue eyes watched her intensely.
"What?" She hiccupped, wiping her running mascara from her cheeks.
"You look lovely," was all he said. He stepped back quickly, as though he'd been stung. "You humans grow up bloody fast."
"You were human once too, Klaus."
She slept disappointed that night, while he didn't sleep at all. He didn't know what to do with all this pent-up frustration. He was frustrated at still not being a hybrid; he was frustrated that everything seemed to be just within his grasp yet entirely unattainable – like the beautiful young witch he was sinfully attracted to, despite his conscience's protests.
He needed to use and discard her so why did the thought fill him with dread?
Turn around and you're walking toward me. I'm breaking down and you're breathing slowly…
"I'm too short," she grumbled one day.
"You're too insecure is what you are," Klaus said.
"Meanie." She flicked the grape she was about to put in her mouth at him. He dodged it with little effort.
"How's the glamouring coming along?"
"Wonderful," she said sarcastically. "I can turn my hair faintly purple. That'll come in handy one day."
"Start simple. Try turning yourself into another girl, roughly your age and build. You'll be able to do it so subtly, no one will notice the change. You can glamour in public."
"What's the point?" She shrugged. "What's the point of any of this?"
"The point-" he began harshly. "—is that you've got a gift and you're going to learn to make the most of it."
"Whatever."
"How's Elena?" Klaus asked, trying to sound casual.
"Why do you ask so much about her? God, do you have a hard-on for her or something?"
"She's your best friend, I was just being polite."
Bonnie was quiet for several seconds. With minimal hesitation, she reached over and locked one hand firmly around Klaus neck, plastering her lips to his. He stiffened, not reciprocating but not pulling away either.
She held for at least thirty seconds before loosening her grip and pulling away, eyes glittering with tears.
"Bonnie, no…" he breathed.
She slammed her grimoire shut and raced into the house, trying to keep the sting of rejection at bay until she was in her bedroom.
Say the word and I will be your man, your man…
"You shouldn't be here," she told him coldly.
"I haven't seen you in months."
"I'm done," she said. "I'm done with all this witch business. I'm done being a…a…a freak. I just want to be normal, Klaus."
"You're not normal," he told her, voice picking up. "You're powerful and intelligent. You're incredible, how do you not see that?"
"Then why don't you want me?" she shouted back, tears coming unashamedly now. "I just want to forget I ever knew you, Nik. Elena has a normal life with a normal boyfriend – I want that! For fuck's sake, my first love was a vampire who's been around for God knows how long. Do you realise how fucked up that is?"
"Love?" he asked, blinking stupidly.
"Yes, you idiot," she spat angrily.
He laughed despite himself – great peals of laughter that rumbled through his chest.
"Very funny," she said sardonically. "Who could love little Bonnie Bennett?"
"Who couldn't?" he whispered.
He swept her up so quickly, she didn't have time to register his lips on hers. She stubbornly refused to reciprocate the kiss but found herself giving in eventually, melting into his embrace and parting her lips to let in more of him.
"I've wanted to do that for a while…" he admitted.
"I guess it would be redundant of me to say 'likewise', huh?"
He laughed and pulled her head under his chin, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her curly tresses.
Come close and then even closer. We bring it in but we go no further. We're separate. Two ghosts in one mirror, no nearer.
It was a week after her eighteenth birthday when she lost her virginity to him in the same park they first met.
"You didn't wish me a happy birthday," she said coyly.
"I've been meaning to make it up to you," he returned with the same flirty tone.
It was not everything either of them imagined it to be – not by a long shot – but it was slow and sweet and awkward in a way that made Bonnie's stomach flutter.
They stayed there until sunset, Klaus repeatedly pressing kisses into every inch of her skin. The air was thick with secrets both of them weren't telling the other.
Bonnie wanted desperately to tell him about the Salvatores – Elena's boyfriend and his volatile brother – and how they're vampires, albeit much younger than Klaus. She was a little jealous at first. Her magic, her vampire lover – both served to make her feel special, in a way that was just a little vain.
Klaus could write libraries of books on the things he hadn't told her. He was an Original vampire, born of a vampire-werewolf bloodline, who was currently looking to kill her best friend to unlock his latter ancestry. He'd been alive – or undead – for longer than she could comprehend. He had seen countless wars fought, empires built and destroyed, and yet he sat here with this oblivious young witch naked as the day she was born and resting peacefully in his arms.
So neither of them spoke. It was easy to pretend – between the gently rushing sounds of water from the nearby brook and the softly whistling wind – that neither had a worry in the world or even heavier secrets.
Later on, if it turns to chaos; hurricane coming all around us. See the crack, pull it back from the window, you stay low.
It was Stefan Salvatore who told her everything. There was a surreal aspect to hearing unimaginable truths about your significant other from someone who was virtually a stranger. She sat there, expressionless and numb, nodding every so often and taking everything in.
It was a fortnight before she confronted Klaus.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, expression blank.
"Tell me what?"
"Don't play stupid," she said, exasperated. "All this time, I thought you were a run-of-the-mill vampire, maybe a little older than most, but a vampire nonetheless. But then Stefan tells me all this 'Original business'? There's a whole world out there that you've kept me blinded to. Why, Klaus?"
"Would you have trusted me if I told you my plans from the beginning?"
"No!" she shouted. "And I'd be right not to! Why does Elena have to die?"
"It's the prophecy-"
"Ugh, again with that stupid prophecy. Even with all this witch stuff, Elena's the special one. The universe finally rights itself." She couldn't keep the bitter sarcasm out of her voice.
"Don't say that. Elena's a…a genetic fluke. You're so much more, Bonnie…" He struggled with his words for a few seconds. "So much more," he repeated.
"What now?" she asked softly, her gaze locking onto his.
"Now, you pick a side," he said bluntly.
"That's not fair."
"Life seldom is."
Come across, you're lost and broken. You're coming in, but you're slow in waking. You start to shake.
"Bonnie, this is your only chance!" Stefan screamed at her from across the barren cemetery. He was being held firmly in place, as though a steel link extended from the hand of Klaus's witch strapped him there.
"Please, Bonnie…" Elena whimpered, her face positively white as Klaus gained on her.
She felt herself hesitating. What was she doing?
"Focus, Bonnie…"
The words to the spell didn't come easily. They trembled on her tongue, stuttering and coiling as they never had when she had practiced this spell in the past. Klaus had personally taught it to her. He had trusted her with the one incantation that could kill him.
"Bonnie…"
It was Klaus this time. She snapped her neck down to the grimoire, refusing to break her concentration. There were only a few lines left. She could feel Klaus' energy seep away, and with it pieces of herself. His cries filled the night air and the instant the last word fell from her lips, a second cry joined his. It was raw, animalistic and in retrospect, she wouldn't have believed that she was capable of emitting such a foul, heart-wrenching sound.
"Bonnie, Bonnie!"
She felt arms grab at her, lifting her off the dirt floor. Her body felt heavy and she sunk down, further and further. Darkness clouded her vision and wetness coated her cheeks. Her breaths came short and quick until she felt positively starved for oxygen.
"Call an ambulance, Stefan!" Elena cried.
Bonnie vaguely noted that Elena too was sobbing, though more out of panic for her friend's well-being. Stefan nodded and the last sound she heard was his rapid speech into a small cellphone.
You still haven't spoken. What happened?
"Bonnie. Bonnie, if you can hear us, please come back to us. We're worried. Everyone's worried. We just want you back, Bonnie, please."
Silence again.
"Your friends, Bonnie. Your family. We don't know what happened to you in that cemetery but we can talk about it, Bon. If you'll just wake up, we can talk and maybe you'll feel better?"
They're coming back and you just don't know when. You want to cry but there's nothing coming.
"Hey, Bonnie. This is Damon. Look, I know we never got along before…well, before this. But…Bonnie, this is terrifying. Your grams wants to have some of her friends – witches – come look at you. She thinks Klaus did something…something magical. Or at least his witches did. I… Well, excuse my presumptuousness, but I don't think that's what happened."
He paused.
"Bonnie, did you love him?"
They're gonna push until you give in. Say when…
"Bonnie, we know what happened. Your grams found the letter. I don't suppose you've read it yet? He loved you, Bonnie. I…I don't understand that and I won't pretend to know exactly what happened but please know that no one is judging you."
Elena's voice was thick with emotion. Caroline took over.
"Yeah, Bon. It happens and it sucks that it ended like this – it seriously sucks. But we're your BFF's. We can talk about this. Please be okay, Bonnie. Please…"
Now we're here and it turns to chaos. Hurricane coming all around us…
Bonnie's waking was anti-climactic. Elena was asleep in a couch off to the corner of the room and Stefan was pacing impatiently by the window when she awoke bleary-eyed.
Her first words were muffled but her friends couldn't have been more joyed to hear them.
"Bonnie?" Stefan exclaimed, loud enough to wake Elena out of her sleep.
"Is she awake?" Elena leapt up, rubbing her eyes as she took quick strides to her friend's bed.
"Hey." Bonnie smiled. "I'm sorry for scaring you."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Elena declared firmly.
Her embrace was suffocating but Bonnie smiled into it regardless.
"It's good to see you up again," Stefan said with a friendly smile.
"It's good to be up," Bonnie agreed.
"I'll get you something to eat," Stefan said before leaving the room.
"Elena, you said something about a letter?"
"You heard that?"
"I heard everything."
"Bon, I don't think it's a good idea-"
"Please, Elena. I'll be fine. I promise."
Elena looked torn but eventually walked over to her handbag and produced a neatly folded rectangle of paper.
"Damon said you'd probably want to read it when you woke up."
"Thanks." Bonnie took it, unfolding it gingerly. She was terrified of what it might contain. "Can I get some…privacy?"
She felt rude asking for Elena to leave her alone after she'd slept by her bedside for so long but Bonnie needed this.
"Of course." After one last pitying look, Elena left the room and shut the door behind her.
Double crack throws you back from the window, you stay low…
Bonnie. My sweet, sweet Bonnie. If you're reading this, then I'm afraid the worst has come to pass. Know this, however: you made the right choice. If you had done anything differently, you wouldn't be Bonnie Bennett, would you? It's that loyalty I admired in you originally. It's that fighting spirit I came to love. So don't lose it now. Not when you need it most.
It all began with man and country. Every plan sends another century around again. Another nation fallen.
Bonnie hiccupped back tears long enough to keep reading.
You should know by now who I am: vile, weak, selfish. Something so far removed from yourself, that it's unimaginable that you could have ever loved me. But if there's something I don't regret, it's you.
Bonnie paused, not bothering to pretend that the tears weren't coming hard and fast now.
Knowing you, you're probably thinking I'm wrong. That there is some good to me – that there had to have been for us to be together in the first place. Darling, that was all you. You were, by and far, the best part of me.
The ink smudged as fat tears slid down the paper.
Maybe God can be on both sides of the gun. I never understood why some of us never get it so good, so good…
You're far more than I ever could have imagined for myself. Far more than I, truthfully, believed I deserved. But this is what I want for you. I want you to move on. I want you, above all else, to be happy. To be successful. You will find someone who not only appreciates you but complements you. Someone who doesn't seek to use you to better themselves but who has something to offer you in return.
Bonnie scoffed through her tears.
"You fool, Klaus," she whispered. She recalled herself shouting at him that her first love was a centuries-old vampire. Nothing was going to top that and to even try would be futile.
Some of this was here before us. All of this will go after us. Never stop, until we give in, give in…
But enough about my shortcomings. I want you to focus on your own strengths. I want you to finally see your own brilliance. No, you're not Elena or Caroline. You don't need the quarterback to notice you. You're Bonnie Bennett and you're the most loyal, intelligent, beautiful witch I know. And that isn't just 'enough', it's everything.
Bonnie was fairly sure every vampire within a two hundred mile radius could hear the thumping of her heart. The heart rate monitor aside her bed had picked up considerably.
I suppose I should conclude this with the obvious. I love you, Bonnie Bennett. For all my sins and my greed and my selfishness, let it never be said that I didn't truly love you.
"Are you alright, Bonnie?" Stefan asked, peering around the door.
She nodded, despite the incriminating tears falling rapidly and the painful seizing of her chest.
Stefan came to sit at the foot of the bed, looking sympathetic.
"Elena's just out to get coffee." He paused. "This does get better, Bonnie, I promise. It may not seem like it now but you will get your life back."
"Does it ever stop hurting?"
"Not really," Stefan admitted. "But it numbs to the point where you can easily ignore it. And if you're lucky, someone comes along to fill the hole it leaves."
Bonnie nodded. Her vision was clearing now that she had blinked away most of her tears. She breathed in the cool night air and pressed the letter close to her chest.
And my own two hands will comfort you tonight, tonight…