To Love, Perish & Devour

by TheDarkPlume

Set Season 3x14, Dangerous Liaisons episode. A summer away from Mystic Falls spent in New Orleans with her cousin Lucy, changes Bonnie as a witch and as a person. Now with the Mikaelsons back amongst the living, Bonnie attends the ball alongside Damon. She makes a startling choice to align herself with the Original family and finding her way back to the brother who shattered her.

A/N: So let's go ahead and get this cleaned up. I had a serious problem with 3x14, the Dangerous Liaisons episode. How THE HELL was Bonnie not invited to the ball? She's pretty much the most bad ass female character on the show. Not to mention she is almost always the one everyone turns to when they need magical intervention.

Okay, rant over.

I've read plenty of Kennett, Klonnie and even some Bamon fanfics. But I don't see much in the way of Bonnie/Elijah. I think that Bonnie would have benefited in Season 2 if she had more interaction with Elijah and a relationship with her cousin Lucy. Several characters are OOC, and for the sake of this story, let's say that Stefan & Elena are in a better place than they were in the episode. With those thoughts, this little hatchling emerged.

Review at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

To Love, Perish & Devour

The best thing about being out of Mystic Falls for the summer was having a break from the second biggest supernatural hotspot in the world, the first being her current temporary residence. New Orleans.

Bonnie Bennett divided her time between watching soap operas and cooking jambalaya and gumbo with her Grand Aunt Jessie. Her magic was different. It was not all spells and chanting. It was healing herbs, meditation and repelling. Bonnie understood why she did it. New Orleans was a magical place and Bonnie could feel the magic pulsating in the air, beckoning her to use. Yet the town's self-proclaimed 'king' had a strict policy. "No witch may practice magic for personal gains without the express permission of Lord Marcel."

Marcel was a dick.

Albeit a handsome dick. Out of respect and a need of peace, both Aunt Jessie and her cousin Lucy introduced Bonnie to Marcel the vampire king of New Orleans.

Bonnie could distinctly remember rolling her eyes and feeling like she had stepped into an episode of True Blood, but at least Marcel wasn't gay or psychotic. Much.

When Bonnie wasn't spending time with Aunt Jessie, she was partying nights with Lucy and leaving town with her or working to practice her magic.

While all this was going on, Bonnie received letter after letter. Not from Elena – she was too busy grieving Stefan's summer of discovery with the original hybrid asshole. Not from Caroline – as if her bubbly best friend would ever take the time to write a letter when she could text and Skype. Not from Jeremy – he was still taking their break-up hard. Damon? Ha! Bonnie didn't even want to think about Damon after she'd let him get so far.

No, these letters came from one person and one person only.

Elijah Mickelson.

The first letter, Bonnie was so angry to see his handwriting on the envelope, she accidentally burned it by magic, inciting an alert to Marcel's compound and a mildly threatening visit from the magic police. Of course, this was the perfect opportunity for Marcel to personally invite Bonnie to a private dinner at his mansion. That one dinner led to a lot of insight about the Originals. She learned that even though Klaus was ruthless and psychotic on his good days, his baby brother Kol was ten times worse. Rebekah, who Bonnie could see that Marcel still had feelings for, came across as bitchy and spoiled. But that was only because her brothers gave her everything she wanted. Everything accept a love of her own and a life away from their watchful eyes. Finn was the quiet, brooding older brother. He reminded her of Stefan except he was a lot more suicidal. He didn't have to tell her a thing about Elijah. She knew all she needed to know about him. He was cultured, respectful, a man of his word… until his family came into question.

She read his second letter and by the time his third came around, he had clearly accepted she had no intentions of responding to his letters and simply started telling her things about his day like she was his diary, slowly chipping away at the ice she formed around her heart because of him.

At least, until the letters suddenly stopped.

"This is a bad idea, Luce." Bonnie modeled all twelve of the ball gowns Elijah had delivered to her front door, while the older witch watched through Skype to help her decide which gown would best match her eyes.

"Maybe, but you have to love the man's persistence. I'm torn between the royal purple and black halter and the ruby bodice with jewels. What do you think?"

Bonnie bit her lip and looked between the two dresses. "The ruby. Definitely." The dress was floor length and a ruby red color with jewels embossing the front. The overlay at the bust and shoulders were a slightly brighter red with no jewels and made from the same chiffon material as her stole.

"Good, that is the perfect dress to get a certain Original's blood pumping tonight," Lucy teased with a look that reminded Bonnie of what a female witch version of Damon might look like. "Make sure to wear your Bennett necklace."

"I kind of have to. Esther may be the Original Witch and a friend to Ayanna, but there was something that just felt off about her when she came out of that coffin."

Lucy grew serious. "You think that she is a threat to you and your friends."

"It's a possibility."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come back to Mystic Falls? I don't have any jobs lined up at the moment and I know that Marcel would like to know exactly what his favorite adopted family is up to."

It was a tempting offer. Bonnie and Lucy had grown close that summer. Lucy had her own residence in New Orleans and Bonnie divided that time between her and her Grand Aunt Jessie. With Aunt Jessie, she cooked and learned a different aspect of magic. It wasn't all spells and chanting. It was healing herbs, meditation, and repelling. Bonnie understood why Aunt Jessie stuck to this form of magic. New Orleans was a magical place and Bonnie could feel the magic pulsing in the air, yet the town's self-proclaimed king had a strict no magic policy. No witch is allowed to practice magic without the expressed permission from Lord Marcel.

With Lucy, they had to leave New Orleans all together just so they wouldn't show up on Marcel's radar for the unlawful practice of magic. But it was all worth it for Bonnie. Not only had she learned more about her magic and was able to practice it without the threat of someone she cared for possibly dying hanging over her head, but she had gained a sister who taught her how to have fun and not take everything so seriously. And, as much as she hated to admit it, to ease up on her prejudice for all things vampire.

"No, if things go tits up in Mystic Falls due to the Original psycho family I want you as far away from here as physically possible. Klaus still hasn't found a witch to replace Greta and I'll be damned if I have him seeing you as his next indentured servant."

Lucy made a face. "Klaus may be hot, but even I wouldn't go for that particular can of crazy. Anyway, the little baby fangs is coming over soon, right?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Can you not call her that?"

"Okay, fine," she sighed, dramatically. "Your friend Caroline, the baby vampire cheerleader. Better?"

"Much," she said in a sugary sweet voice that matched Lucy's. "Hooker."

"Bitch."

The two cousins smiled at one another, already missing being together.

"Knock, knock," Caroline said, opening the door.

"Hey, Care Bear," Bonnie greeted the bubbly blonde vampire.

Caroline's blue eyes widened comically as she took in the long rack of gowns with matching shoes and accessories. "Where did all this come from?"

"Well," Bonnie stalled, thinking of the best way to answer her question.

"Elijah," Lucy chirped, unhelpfully, filing her nails. "Hi, Caroline."

"Hi," she said, distractedly. "You're telling me that Elijah actually took the time to consider what you may want to wear rather than just delivering a dress he wanted to see you in?"

"Don't pout, Care Bear. You know by now how Klaus is."

"The big question," Lucy said with a smile that Bonnie knew meant trouble. "Is why do you care that Klaus didn't go the extra measure for you the way Elijah did for Bonnie Rabbit here?"

Caroline stuttered and blushed. "I don't! It's just nice if a girl can have options, you know?"

Lucy's eyebrows rose and her smile grew predatory. "You would think that a girl who is happy with what she has wouldn't care to have…other options."

"Okay, okay, enough. Lucy, you said you wanted to help me pick a dress. You have. Stop being bitchy and let Caroline help me finish getting ready."

"Fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Caroline ignored Bonnie's cousin and set to curling her best friend's hair. "So, what are you going to do about Elijah tonight?"

Bonnie sighed, wishing she could just skip the night altogether. "Nothing. He invited me as his personal guest, but he's not my date."

"Yeah, about that, tell me again how and why you managed to get Damon to not ask Elena?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll still be her knight in shining leather tonight, minus the leather." Caroline snorted. "But he agreed with me that if the Originals were planning something sinister tonight it would be better to have the team together since they have the home field advantage."

"It won't be the whole team," she said, sadly, her thoughts focusing on Tyler and his sire bond to Klaus. "And can you believe Matt actually agreed to be Rebekah's date! What the hell is that about?"

"Well, she is pretty hot for a one thousand year old woman," Lucy supplied. "What?" she could see Bonnie's amusement and Caroline's revulsion. "It's true and you know it."

Bonnie already knew of her cousin's proclivity for dabbling with her own sex and just went with it. "Rebekah won't hurt Matt. It's her brothers we have to watch out for." Truthfully, Bonnie wished Rebekah had picked a better venue to have her first date with their friend, but at least he would have backup when her brothers inevitably crossed the line.

"I think I may be able to keep Klaus fairly occupied." Caroline studiously ignored Lucy's derisive snort. "I don't know too much about the other two."

"Let's just let tonight work itself out."

Caroline finished Bonnie's hair and makeup with Lucy making the appropriate noises of approval and casually disparaging remarks about Caroline secretly crushing on Klaus. Bonnie knew that as open as Lucy was about vampires, she treated Caroline with such contempt because she grouped her in the Use Bonnie to Save Elena No Matter What category. And while Bonnie could admit dying for Elena was something she would never regret, it was nice to have someone care enough to regret it for her.

Damon arrived on time looking GQ sharp in his tux with his hair slicked back. He leaned casually against her doorframe when she opened the door. His crystalline blue eyes sweeping over every inch of her much like the night she finally invited him upstairs.

"Hmm, draped in red with that lovely throat of yours on display…are we fishing for something in particular, witchy?"

Bonnie, having spent months secretly practicing Damon's patented smirk in the mirror of her bedroom, put it on full display and said, "oh, just to bring a certain brown-eyed Original to his knees. Just the usual."

Damon reclaimed his smirk and coupled it with that incomparable eye move that made the fan girl within Bonnie swoon. "Then let's go make an entrance."

The drive to the Mikaelson mansion was in companionable silence, but Bonnie couldn't help but notice that the closer they came the tenser Damon grew. She knew it was a combination of being in closed quarters with all of the Originals, the Original Witch, Klaus's hybrids that were sure to be prowling around, and of course, Elena being in the thick of it all.

"Damon, no one's going to hurt Elena tonight." Bonnie felt the need to comfort Damon, much like he had the night they refused to acknowledge.

He met her eyes briefly. "Of course not. I'll be there."

She rolled her eyes and ignored the clench in her stomach as the huge mansion came into view. It was a beautiful house, but there was a certain chill around it that made Bonnie think that it would never truly be a place one could call home.

"Hey," Damon grasped her chin, turning her face towards his. "You don't have to do this."

The empathy in Damon's eyes made her feel a little stronger. "I can't avoid him for the rest of my life." I don't want to avoid him for the rest of my life.

Damon, who seemed to hear what she was thinking rather than what she actually said, nodded once, and hopped out of the car and opened her door. He tensed again when a hybrid stepped from the shadows.

"Vampire, witch," he acknowledged with a reluctantly respectful head nod.

"Hybrid," they said in unison as said hybrid's lip curled in a silent snarl. "Down boy," Damon said, patronizingly. He tossed his keys towards the hybrid valet who caught them with little to no effort. "This car's a classic and was made before you were a thought swimming around inside your daddy's sac. Scratch her and I'll have a brand new wolf fur rug. With your head mounted on my wall for shits and giggles." Damon took Bonnie's hand and led her towards the front door before the hybrid could respond to the threat. He turned and looked at her strangely as they waited for the door to open.

"What?"

"No judgmental reprimand on poking restless tigers or in this case wolfs?"

Bonnie laughed, knowing he purposely mispronounced the word. "No, besides, when do you ever listen to my words of caution, Damon?"

He looked at her strangely again and hummed his approval. "Looks like the summer away did wonders for you, Bon Bon. I like this new you."

"Still not going to sleep with you," she sing-songed.

"Never say never, witch."

The door opened and Bonnie immediately recognized the Original brother with the face of a handsome aristocrat from the family portrait hanging in Marcel's parlor.

Finn Mikaelson.

"Good evening and welcome to our home…?"

"Damon Salvatore," Damon answered curtly, all traces of humor and amusement wiped clean from his expression.

"Bonnie Bennett," she answered when his assessing gaze turned on her.

He smiled a little. "Miss Bennett," he took her hand and brushed a light kiss across her knuckles. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. My brothers speak of you often." She could imagine. His pupils expanded a little and Bonnie could hear Damon growling softly at the eldest Mikaelson's not-so-subtle attempts at compulsion. "Ah," he said, obviously satisfied. "And it would seem that Ayanna's gifts have reached you as well." Well, duh. What Bennett have you met that wasn't a witch? But then Bonnie remembered that Finn had spent the core of his vampire existence daggered in a coffin. "Where are my manners? Please, come inside."

"Thank you," she said, when it was clear that Damon wouldn't. Bonnie stepped over the threshold first and immediately wished she hadn't. The comforting heat of the B of her Bennett necklace vanished as the gentle hum died and her emblem turned as cold as a corpse. "What is this?" she muttered, her eyes drawn to the Mikaelson crest hanging over the door.

"Bonnie, what's wrong?" Damon asked.

But before Bonnie could answer a soft breeze blew through the opened doorway, flooding the house with her newly uncovered scent. Vampires and hybrids all turned her way, lust and hunger intermingling in their eyes. Distantly, Bonnie thought the sight before her was almost like the masquerade ball scene from Van Helsing when Hugh Jackman showed up to rescue Kate Beckinsale. Screams echoed around the house as the human guests witnessed the vampires losing control, their faces changing to reveal their true nature. This was what her Grams had always feared: Bonnie's scent sending the vampires into a frenzy.

But Bonnie kept her eyes on Finn. He was already stalking towards her. "Finn, stop," she said, carefully taking a step back. He made no indication of having heard her. Clearly, being daggered for so long left something to be desired in his control. "Stop or I will hurt you." The crest was clearly battling to disable her magic, but she was a descendant of Ayanna and an heir of Qetsiyah, quiet as it was kept. She was stronger than that. When Finn made to charge at her, her hand shot out throwing Finn into the ballroom much like she had to Alaric/Klaus when she had the power of 100 witches. He crashed into a table and that seemed to give the others pause in wanting to attack her. Damon slammed into her, fangs bared, and Bonnie was instantly back to being that frightened girl in the woods possessed by Emily, but to her surprise, Damon merely pressed his back against her front and crouched low in front of her ready to defend her.

"ENOUGH!"

All at once, they turned towards the proud, elegant woman standing at the base of the stairs. She radiated power, but Bonnie didn't take comfort in it. The power was twisted and deceptive. She could see that the Original Witch's beauty was only skin-deep.

"What is the meaning of this? I asked for one night," she ranted. "One night of normalcy and you, Finn, my supposed good son, decides it is a good idea to make a meal out of a guest!"

Finn, finally broken out of his bloodlust haze, slumped his shoulders. Bonnie imagined that had he been a puppy, his ears would be flat against his head with his tail tucked, whimpering as his master screamed at him for having an accident in her favorite pair of shoes.

"I am so sorry, mother."

"If anyone should apologize," Bonnie said with furious eyes for only the Original Witch. "It would be you to Finn and every other supernatural in this room, Esther."

"Excuse me?"

"Just what the hell are you playing at? Your little Mikaelson Crest above the door suppressed mine and now my natural scent is all over your goddamn house and there is nothing I can do to dampen it for the ones who smell it tonight!"

"Well," Bonnie audibly groaned at the too familiar smug British lilt to her left. "This is an interesting development, little witch. This entire time you masked your true scent." She turned towards Klaus and cringed to see that his eyes were still that dangerous hybrid yellow. His sharp ivory fangs glinted dangerously underneath the fluorescent lights as he grinned. "Naughty, naughty." Klaus turned to his hybrids. "You will not now or ever attack Bonnie Bennett…without my permission. You will control yourselves when you are in her presence."

Bonnie calmed down a little seeing Klaus's hybrids return to normal. "Thank you," she said with a twisted expression. The words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

When Klaus turned to her again, she was pleased to see that his hybrid face was gone. "I can see that that was an extremely painful thing for you to say to me," he said, dryly. "Save me a dance later."

He wasn't asking.

She sensed him as he moved closer. Bonnie kept her eyes forward, determined not to look into his. He stood at her shoulder, his presence demanding she acknowledge him. She didn't. Elijah didn't react like the others. He didn't let her scent drive him into a frenzy and Bonnie wasn't sure how she should feel about that. "Mother, perhaps it would be in everyone's best interest if you were to restart the evening. For the sake of amity."

"Or we could just scrap this farce and call it a night," Klaus remarked, watching Damon still crouched by Bonnie's feet in thinly veiled amusement.

"Be quiet, Niklaus!" Esther scolded. She closed her eyes and chanted softly. The magic washed over them affecting only the humans who once again had no idea they were rubbing elbows with various supernatural beings. "Miss Bennett," she said, gently. "I apologize for any undue alarm I have afforded you tonight. I seek only to lead as normal a life possible with my children and it has come to my attention that you and Niklaus are… adversaries."

"Indeed," Klaus looked at Bonnie again and smirked. "It is quite an interesting game we play."

Bonnie agreed. "However, for the safety of everyone here, I'm sure that we can rain check our latest match of Tag, You Die. Just for the night?" she asked, smiling coyly.

Klaus's smirk widened, enjoying the changes he was already seeing in the witch. "Anything for the sake of peace," he answered, sardonically. "But remember, little witch, you're IT next time."

While Bonnie took the promise to heart, she returned his smirk and chuckled lowly. "I look forward to it."

He bowed with a mocking flourish and she gave him a sarcastic curtsey. Klaus made his way to the stairs with his siblings trailing behind him. Only when they were at a safe distance away did Damon relax. He stood and glared at Elijah who couldn't take his eyes off Bonnie who was pulled to the side and frantically checked over by Caroline.

"That's what you really smell like?" Caroline whispered, frantically. "God, Bonnie, if I caught that when I first turned—"

"But you didn't, and even if you had no one would have let you do something you would regret. I really am sorry that there's nothing I can do to change it back for you."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Caroline looked over Bonnie's shoulder and cleared her throat. "By the way, you're being watched."

"Yeah, I can feel the dozens of eyes burning into me right now, Care Bear."

"Point taken," Caroline said, looking around the room with a hostile glare daring the hungry eyed vampires to try something. "But I think you know exactly who I mean."

Meanwhile…

"You better keep that damn brother of yours under control," Damon said, to Elijah who merely picked a piece of lint from his suit sleeve.

"I do not care for your tone, Mr. Salvatore, and you will do well to remember exactly why it is a bad idea to cross me." He spoke calmly, even with the promise of pain in his words.

"Your threats mean nothing to me," Damon scoffed. "But you will keep them, Klaus especially, away from Bonnie."

Elijah narrowed his eyes at the elder Salvatore, well aware that his family was listening to every word. "Tell me, Damon, why do you suddenly care for her well-being when it was you who suggested she die for your beloved Elena Gilbert? And if I recall correctly, you yourself had at one point forcibly consumed her blood. Why does she matter to you?"

Damon looked over at Bonnie, watching her do everything she could to make the Vampire Barbie laugh. The truth was that even though it was his idea that she die for Klaus's benefit, he didn't expect to feel the way he did as he stood over her lifeless, blood drenched body. Their almost night together proved to him that while he would never love anyone over Elena, Bonnie Bennett came as close as any other woman ever could.

"You've already answered your own questions," he answered, coolly. "For my part in the pain and misery she's experienced since vampires touched her life, protection is the least I owe her. It's the least YOU owe her." Damon's angry eyes drifted past Elijah to up the stairs where Klaus waved mockingly at him. "But you already have what you want. Your family back, walking the earth, and it only cost you Bonnie. Fair trade off, huh?"

Elijah growled, his impeccable control slipping, much to the surprise of his siblings. Only Klaus was unsurprised. Even with Elijah's hand wrapped around his heart at the sacrifice site, he could clearly see that the Bennett witch meant more to him than he wanted to admit. Which was excellent for Klaus. He had a new, fun way to torment his morally righteous brother. His eyes trailed over to Bonnie who stood laughing with his newest conquest. Caroline looked as stunning in the gown as he thought she would, but Bonnie was a sight to behold. The ruby red of her gown accentuated her glowing golden brown skin and brought out her emerald eyes. Even from his place on the stairs, Klaus could clearly see the veins pulsing in her neck. Klaus always had an affinity for beautiful witches that could pack a wallop, and the lovely Miss Bennett clearly delivered on all fronts. Already, he could see the portrait of her forming before his eyes. The ferocious determination in her eyes as she blasted Finn away from her while the room descended into chaos. He was almost sad that his brother didn't get so much as a nip in, seeing her in battle covered in blood that night of the '60s dance was a treasured memory. He never admitted it to anyone, but he was secretly relieved she had survived that night. Opponents of her caliber only came around once in a lifetime.

"Is it just me or is there something different about the witch?" Rebekah murmured. "Aside from her lust inducing scent."

"She's been in contact with Lucy," Klaus answered, growling the name a little. "Clearly her tutelage has helped the witch reach the point in her magic she should have already experienced at this age."

Rebekah turned to her brother. "Still holding a grudge then, Nik?"

"That witch bitch kept Katerina hidden from me. When I do see her again, Bonnie may become the last of the Bennett line."

They watched Bonnie shiver slightly. "What's wrong?" they heard Caroline ask her.

"Too much to narrow to it down to just one thing." She dug her phone out of her clutch and sent a quick text to her cousin.

Things have already gone south. Orig. witch did something to my necklace. Scent all over the place.

Shit. Are you okay cuzo?

Yeah. Just wanted to give you an update. Toast is about to start. Text you back later.

Love you Bonnie Rabbit.

Love you too, Lucy Lu.

She slipped her phone back in her clutch as the Mikaelsons assembled on the staircase. Elena came and covered her other side, slipping her arm through hers as Matt, Damon, and Stefan stood at their backs protectively.

"Are you okay?" Matt whispered, worry filling his beautiful blue eyes.

"I'm okay, Mattie." She glanced over her shoulder and met Stefan's darkening eyes. "Are you okay?"

He smiled tightly. "Your scent is pushing my control to the limit," he answered, truthfully. "But you know I would never hurt you, Bonnie."

She smiled gently. Even though this was clearly Post Ripper Stefan, Bonnie could not doubt the validity of his words.

But then Elijah started to talk and she was lost. He looked the same. Unaged, hair smoothed back, immaculately dressed. His lips lifted in a small smile as he looked towards his mother, and she realized with a thrill it was all for show. His smile, his true smile was one that she had seen many nights when she would sneak out of her house and meet him in his apartment away from the prying eyes of her friends and the Salvatore brothers. He would show his smile whenever she successfully demonstrated spells that were often too difficult for her to learn. He would show his smile whenever he shared his human memories with her. His smile would animate his face and bring out the secret dimples in his cheeks.

Bonnie didn't understand it. Getting his family back was all he ever wanted, so why wasn't he happy?

The first dance was a waltz. Bonnie again found herself standing between Caroline and Elena with Klaus and Stefan in front of them respectively. Bonnie had to hand it to Elena. She was doing very well nerve wise with Klaus being only a few feet away from her. But to his credit, Klaus kept his attention on Caroline and Caroline only. Her eyes drifted further down the line of dancers and she found Finn dancing with his mother without a care in the world. He smiled almost dazedly as if she hadn't dressed him down in front of a room full of strangers. Something was wrong there. Elijah danced with his date, the newly crowned Mayor Carol Lockwood. She smiled and blushed, finally looking like she was experiencing some happiness since the loss of her husband. That the happiness she found was in Elijah's arms made Bonnie hate her a little.

"I find it more than a little insulting that my date is checking out every guy in the room but me," Damon said, interrupting her thoughts.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Let's not pretend that you weren't checking out Elena just now."

"Don't drag me into this," Elena said with a small smile, still not entirely too comfortable with her upcoming meeting with the Original Witch.

"Well, she does look absolutely gorgeous tonight," Damon said, looking over at her with heated eyes. "And will you look at that, it's time to switch partners."

Bonnie almost giggled at the face Elena made when Damon pulled her in an embrace. Until she realized just whose arms she suddenly found herself in.

Lovely.

"Fancy meeting you here, love," Klaus said, mockingly.

"Yeah, dancing together at a party. What are the odds?" Bonnie didn't let her eyes wonder from Klaus the way she had with Damon. No, this was one vampire she wanted in her line of sight at all times. "So," she grimaced at the forced casualness in her voice as Klaus smirked down at her. "Family's all back together. That means you have scratched everything off your bucket list, I gather."

"Not even close," he chuckled. "Although, I suppose there is something to be said for us being together again after so many years."

His thoughtful look gave Bonnie a chance to see past the homicidal psycho that they all knew him to be. He was unfairly handsome and had eyes that rivaled Damon for their intensity. But even beyond that she could see the misgivings of his future with his siblings.

"You're worried," she murmured lowly so that only Klaus would hear her over the music. She felt him stiffen a fraction in her arms.

"Now why should I be worried, love? My curse is broken, I have made my hybrids, Mikael is dead, and my family is safe at my side where they have always belonged. What is there to worry over?" yet she noticed that he spoke just as low as she did.

"You're worried that they will still leave you and that your mother is not the forgiving saint she makes herself out to be."

She felt his hand grip her side briefly. "Careful, love." His eyes were hard and full of warning. "One might mistake that as caring about my welfare. Or meddling."

Bonnie could see the danger in his eyes and knew that she was close to crossing the line. He leaned down as she turned her head and took it as an invitation to skim his nose down her pulse point. "Your scent was pleasant before tonight, but now, you truly smell mouthwatering." His lips moved towards her ear and she felt equal parts disgust and intrigue as to where he was going with this. "I must confess that it is making me think all sorts of wicked things."

She squeaked lightly and pulled back when he nipped at her earlobe. "Klaus?" she said, sweetly.

"Yes, love?"

"Try that again and I will happily set your balls on fire."

She ignored the subtle simultaneous wincing of the eavesdropping supernatural men in the room as Klaus shook against her in silent laughter. "Ah, little witch, where have you been all my life?"

They shifted again and Bonnie found herself in Finn's arms. "Miss Bennett."

"Mr. Mikaelson. I apologize for blasting you across the room."

Finn exhaled a harsh, laughing breath. "You were merely defending yourself against a bloodthirsty monster. An apology to me at this point is insulting."

Bonnie's eyebrows rose. She knew Marcel said that Finn Mikaelson was the most depressing vampire in existence, but… "And I thought Stefan cornered the market on brooding." She didn't say this as quietly as she had hoped when Klaus snorted, Caroline giggled, Damon full out laughed and Stefan playfully glowered at her.

"Looking aside our agreeable physical presence we are monsters, Miss Bennett. As a witch, you know this better than any. Or have your newfound affections impaired your judgment?"

Bonnie grew cold in Finn's arms. "I beg your pardon?"

His smile was empty and his eyes were impossibly cold. "I find it surprising that a witch with your capabilities and your lineage would fall so easily for one of the damned…" he trailed off and let his gaze settle on Damon who under his trademark smirk was concerned for the girl locked in the demented Mikaelson's embrace. "Or perhaps I should say two?"

"Finn—"

"Do you ever think where your life would be now had the Salvatore brothers never returned to Mystic Falls during your lifetime?" the seemingly innocent question gave her pause. Of course she did. Every time she thought of Grams, every time she had a screaming nightmare reliving the pain of Damon's fangs piercing her neck or of Alaric/Klaus sneering face as she died over and over again. "How different would you be I wonder? Would you still be so self-sacrificing for Miss Gilbert? Would you still allow your self-worth to be measured by the number of times you allow the Salvatores to wield your magical abilities like a sword of vengeance only to be replaced back in the corner when they have no further use for you?" His words were damming and hypnotic as the stirrings of discontent began to rise. Bonnie had lost count of all the times over the summer Lucy had hinted the very same things. "It is no way for a servant of nature to exist, Miss Bennett. I imagine the spirits must be quite disgusted with how you have taken your gifts and laid them at the feet of nature's biggest imbalance."

Bonnie ignored the low growls from the Salvatores and suspicious glowers coming from all around her and focused solely on Finn. There was something off about him. It was almost the same feeling she got from Esther. Just what the hell was going on with the Original family tonight? Carefully, subtly, she pushed her magic towards Finn and was surprised and a little wary when she felt traces of Esther's magic surrounding his mind. Was she really…? No. No one was that sick.

Bonnie thought back to one of the conversations she had had with Marcel. She knew it was a longshot and risky as hell, but she didn't get this far by not taking chances.

"So, you agree that you are a monster? One of nature's greatest abominations?"

"Yes."

"Is that all you feel? Is there no warmth, no happiness?"

"I am an unchanging creature. A corpse animated solely on the blood of the living. My happiness I can achieve only inside a grave."

Bonnie shivered at the macabre image he painted in her mind's eye. "Have you never loved since becoming a vampire?"

Something shifted in his expression. His eye twitched and she could almost see the foggy haze rolling back from his eyes. "Love…Sage." His hands unconsciously tightened around her arms. "Sage!" he whispered, desperately and Bonnie felt the water rise in her eyes as Finn squeezed her arms in a near shattering grip.

"Brother," Kol intervened before Elijah could make a scene. "Go dance with Mother, will you? She keeps lecturing me on not feeding from the locals. It is quite tiresome."

Before Finn could answer, Kol shoved him aside and turned to Bonnie with a devilish smile that made her heart race. "Hello, darling. I have not had the pleasure of introducing myself. I am Kol Mikaelson." He kissed her hand and Bonnie blushed brightly.

"Hello," she said, once she was sure her voice sounded normal again. "Bonnie Bennett."

"Oh, I am well aware who you are, Miss Bennett." His expression turned to playful contemplation. "What was it that Nik said about you again? Oh, yes! 'An avenging goddess who was ready to smite me with the fire of a thousand burning hells', he really likes that you tried to kill him, twice."

Bonnie cut disbelieving eyes at Klaus who tipped his imaginary hat to her. She wanted to giggle and found herself boggled by the sheer insanity of the Mikaelson family. "Well, I, yeah, I don't know what to say to that."

"And modest to boot!" he laughed. "I can see why Elijah is so smitten with you."

Bonnie's expression darkened noticeably. "He has a very strange way of showing it." Unwillingly, her gaze moved over to Elijah and was wholly unsurprised to find him staring back at her. His gaze was guarded and yet so open to her. It's not that Bonnie didn't want to forgive Elijah, but every time she tried, that searing pain from his betrayal locked her in its death grip.

Kol's seductively dark chuckle brought him back to her focus. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?"

"Something like that."

"Of course, Elijah never really said a word to me about you other than that you are the resident witch."

Bonnie frowns not quite understanding. "Then how do you…?"

"I read his diary." Bonnie's eyes widened at his unabashed confession of invading his brother's privacy. Her gaze drifted to Elijah again and he looked absolutely murderous as Kol gave him a toothy grin. "Such an emotional one, my brother. Worse than Niklaus at times. Although in this case, it is justifiable. It's a terrible business to betray, wouldn't you say?"

"Almost criminal," she said, suddenly finding the shiny buttons of Kol's shirt interesting. Bonnie could guess that Elijah wrote about their secret meetings and their night together before the sacrifice.

Kol twirled her around, drawing her back against his chest. "Would you like to hear what he wrote about you, Miss Bennett?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Kol."

Kol's lips brushed the shell of her ear as he whispered, "Her skin feels like the finest of silks. Her scent is of the earth, sunshine, and sex." Kol's fingers dance a teasing path up her arm. "Her feminine taste," Bonnie drew in a sharp breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she vividly recalls Elijah's lips there. "Is of the sweetest raspberries and cream. For I could gladly give up blood and live solely on her weeping river for eternity." Bonnie opened her eyes and while she knew that Kol was speaking too softly for anyone else to hear them, she could see from Elijah's darkening eyes as he looked over her shoulder at his youngest brother, he knew exactly what he was saying. "She is an unknown siren. Oblivious to the men willing to fall before her and do her bidding with one promise of her favor. She plagues my every waking thought. Thinking of her satin heat encasing me leaves me breathless with want. There is no other like her and I want for no one but her. Bonnie…just speaking her name awakens the selfish greed I have successfully repressed for over 1,000 years. She calls to both the savage beast and the man within me, soothing one while taming the other. I long to possess her to take what she offers and even that which she does not." Kol stopped and Bonnie could see Elijah struggling to maintain his impeccable composure as the veins around his eyes steadily rose and fell, making his new partner, Rebekah stare at him incredulously. "Shall I go on?"

He turned her again so that he could study her enflamed face. "No, no, that was more than enough." Kol gave her a moment to calm her pounding heart as it only served to increase the potency of her scent circulating throughout the room. She was delicate in his arms, but already, Kol knew that Bonnie Bennett was anything but.

The entire family is insane, Bonnie silently concluded. It shouldn't surprise me. Klaus always comes to everyone's mind as the prime example, but he was a kitten compared to Mikael.

"How are you liking the new century?" she asked, reaching for a safe topic.

Kol smirked, knowingly. "I find it beyond my wildest dreams. The cars, the technology, the state of dress for modern women…or lack thereof in most cases. I find it all wonderfully exciting. All except for this newfound reverence of vampires." His eyebrows drew together and his lips puckered in an adorable pout. "I blame that wench Stephenie Meyers. Those things are not fit to call themselves vampires. Between you and I, once business settles here I fully intend to introduce Ms. Meyers to a true vampire."

Bonnie giggled, her previous discomfort pushed aside. "And tweens around the world shall weep as one." This had to be the most surreal conversation Bonnie had ever experienced.

"A small price to pay for her global insult," Kol sniffed, indignantly. Then he grew serious. The rapid change in moods reminded her so much of Klaus. "My brother may be the most depressed vampire on the face of the earth, but even I found his display tonight unsettling. Would you say that it may be magically motivated?"

"Are you seeking my counsel, Kol?"

"My brothers admire you for more than just your," his eyes raked over her body languorously. "Ample assets."

"Yes," she answered, simply.

Kol didn't question her further, but when the waltz finally ended, he kissed her hand again and disappeared in the crowd.

"Bonnie, are you alright?" Elena came to her side, checking the bruises on her arms.

"Yeah, a little disturbed, but he didn't do any permanent damage." Bonnie wasn't sure if she meant Finn or Kol.

"We should have never agreed to come here," Caroline said as they all huddled together, watching the Originals make nice with Carol Lockwood and the council.

"Is it weird to be happy for them?" Bonnie suddenly asked.

Damon snorted. "Happy that the world's oldest and most dangerous vampires are alive and well to wreak havoc in our town? Already drinking the Original Kool-Aid, witchy?"

Bonnie glared sharply, unamused. "I just meant that I know I would give anything to have my family together. Maybe, maybe this is exactly what Klaus needs. He already seems slightly less psychotic just having them around."

Damon's eyes narrowed a fraction. "And you and I both know this has nothing to do with Klaus for once."

"Let's not go there tonight, Damon."

"No, let's. Clearly, you seem to be under the impression that everything Klaus and Elijah have done is suddenly absolved because Mommy Original wants peace."

"Damon, really? Now isn't the time," Stefan, forever the diplomat, broke in.

"I never said they were absolved for anything, Damon, but if having his family back curbs Klaus's desire to syphon Elena's blood to build his hybrid army and eliminate anyone who tries to stop him, I'm all for it."

Elena winced and Stefan tightened his arm around her waist in a gesture of comfort.

"And that makes it worth Elijah's betrayal to you the night of the sacrifice?"

"Damon!"

Caroline pinched Damon's arm hard. "Must you always be an insensitive ass?"

Bonnie could hear her friends, Stefan especially having been the one to catch her as devastation drove her to her knees when Elijah spirited Klaus away, berating Damon's harsh words.

But in Bonnie's eyes, the Mikaelson ballroom faded away and she could only see fire as she stood beside Stefan, impatiently waiting for Elijah to pull Klaus's beating heart from his chest.

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus painfully shouted.

"What?"

"Their bodies are safe." Elijah falters and Klaus seized the opportunity to bargain. "If you kill me you'll never find them."

"Elijah!" Stefan called. "Don't listen to him."

Elijah's eyes cut from Stefan, and Bonnie could feel something horrible settling inside her. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

"I can take you to them. I give you my word, brother."

"Do it and I'll take you both out." When what she really wants is to beg Elijah not to listen to Klaus.

"And you'll die." And he's right. Something does die inside her when he says those words.

"I don't care." But she does.

He tears his gaze away from Bonnie and looks down at Klaus. "Brother," Klaus begs.

Elijah looks at them again. At Bonnie. So much passed in that one look and she already knows the decision before he makes it. "I'm sorry." He grabs Klaus and jumps over the wall of fire in vampire speed, leaving them standing there in a daze.

"Witchy," Damon says, pulling Bonnie from the memories. The devastation in her eyes a near mirror image to what he felt when both Katherine and Elena promised him the choice would always be Stefan. "Bonnie," he stresses her name. "I—"

"Don't worry about it, Damon." She blinked twice refusing to shed one more tear over Elijah Mikaelson. "Betrayal only happens if you give them the power to." She ignores Elijah's heated gaze from across the room and gives Damon a smile that makes even him wince in something close to sympathy. "It won't happen again."

The dancing starts again, and Bonnie feels emotionally exhausted. She wants to go home, take off her dress, soak in the tub, watch Titanic, and have herself a good cry in a pint of strawberry ice cream. Yet, again, she finds herself dancing with Klaus Mikaelson. Bonnie assumes that it's his werewolf side locked in on the scent of her misery that keeps drawing him in.

Bonnie could see Elijah's patience waning. It was only a matter of time before she would be in Elijah's arms and that was just something she was not ready for. "Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away, love."

"You've accomplished everything you initially planned to in Mystic Falls. So my question is why are you setting a permanent base here?"

"You hurt my feelings, love. Are you so eager for me to leave, after all the fun we have had?"

She ignored his fingers trailing up and down her arm teasingly. "Trying to kill you was fun," Bonnie conceded. "I just thought you would be happier having your family by your side while you rebuild your empire." She could feel the air shift and she knew she had his attention. "After all," she met the blazing blue flames of his eyes. "What is a king without his kingdom?"

"Just what exactly are you trying to say, Bonnie?"

She smiled smugly, leaned up on her tiptoes, and whispered in his ear. "Marcel looks good on your throne."

The yellow flickering back in forth in his eyes was just what she needed to see. Bonnie extracted herself from Klaus's embrace, snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and casually strolled to the lavish parlor unconcerned whether or not they were following her.

She dropped some sage in the unlit fireplace and made herself comfortable on the sofa. Bonnie took her phone from her clutch and called Lucy. She knew she was probably throwing herself in the middle of a huge war between Marcel and the Originals, but she couldn't let Marcel's reign of terror in New Orleans continue.

"B!" Lucy exclaimed, sounding relieved. "Now tell me again what the Original Bitch did to you?"

Bonnie laughed lightly as she sipped her champagne. "One of her spells neutralized the Bennett necklace so now my real scent is known amongst a large circle of vampires and hybrids, Originals and Salvatore brothers included."

Lucy let off a litany of impressive swears. "You realize what this means, right?"

"My life is all but forfeit the moment I leave the mansion." Bonnie was so focused on talking to Lucy and blocking out her final moments with Elijah that she didn't notice the Originals approaching and listening to her every word. "But if it comes to that, you had better believe I will take as many of those bastards with me before I take my last breath."

Elijah snarled softly. He turned his furious eyes to his family. "Bonnie Bennett is off limits."

"I won't hurt her," Rebekah assured her brother. "Unlike the doppelganger bitch and Nik's pinup doll," she ignored the hybrid's growl. "She was actually nice to me. I sorta like her. When she's not protecting Elena," she sneered the name.

"So then you claim her?" Kol asked sounding and looking both disappointed and petulant.

"Yes," he answered, sternly. "And as for your previous diary remarks, we shall discuss your impropriety in handling my personal possessions later, Kol."

Kol's smirk deepened as he opened his eyes innocently. "You can hardly fault me for being curious about the only woman who has made our dear Tatia all but a distant memory." Elijah's eyes hardened before Kol finally sighed. "Fine, I shall not touch a single hair on your pretty little witch's head, but if she tires of you, brother…" Kol licked his human teeth tauntingly and Rebekah had to grab Elijah's arm to restrain him from possibly breaking Kol's neck.

The three Mikaelson siblings turned to Klaus and were unsurprised to find that familiar covetous glint flashing in his eyes. "Niklaus," Elijah said, warningly.

"Ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies, brother. Perhaps before tonight I would have acquiesced, in spite of her meddling and multiple attempts at trying to kill me. However, now…" Klaus inhaled her tempting scent.

The muscles in Elijah's jaw ticked as he struggled to maintain his infamous equanimity. "If I am not mistaken, you have already laid claim to Caroline Forbes."

"I have, and yet, there is just something about Bonnie Bennett that fascinates me. She knows what I am, she knows well what I am capable of, but the fear is noticeably absent."

"Niklaus—"

"Her life is in no danger of ending by my hands, brother." Klaus looked at Elijah seriously. "But that is the only promise you shall have of me in regards to our lovely little witch."

Although terribly incensed at the subtle challenge of taking Bonnie for himself, Elijah was determined to fix what he had broken between them. He saw how she refused to look at him, had listened to the raw pain of her words, and knew that as angry as she was, she still cared, and maybe even loved him. He would fight for her and he would never give her up again. Klaus, reading the determination in his brother's eyes, inclined his head in acceptance, as the four siblings turned back to the witch perched casually on their sofa.

"But that's not why I called you."

"What is it?"

"I did something tonight you might not approve of." They could see her nibbling on her lip anxiously.

"Did you and Elijah finally have hot, sweaty makeup sex in the coatroom? Because in that case, I agree 100 percent." The Originals snickered lowly, and Elijah stood a little straighter, happy that he met the approval of one member of her family.

Bonnie blushed hotly. "No."

"No, you're right that's too easy. You should have him seek repentance by making him eat your—"

"Oh my god, Lucy, stop!" Bonnie gasped, blushing eight shades of red. "Is that all you think about?"

Elijah ignored his snickering siblings. He shifted to relieve the pressure of his hardening cock as he vividly recalled lapping at her sweet nectar as she tugged at his hair and wailed like a siren above him.

"Like you don't already know that, but fine, what did you do?"

"I may or may not have mentioned Marcel to Klaus." And wait for it…

"What the FUCK, Bonnie?"

She visibly cringed. "Look, I know you're fond of Marcel—"

"You misunderstand me. Marcel is a nice fuck and all, but you know I wouldn't give a damn if he dropped dead this instant."

"Then you agree he has to be stopped. Who better than the Originals to do it?"

"Bons, do you really think Klaus is going to put down his progeny?"

"He had no qualms daggering his family. I'm sure Marcel will be a walk in the park."

"And Rebekah? Are you forgetting her feelings in all of this?"

"You think she still loves him?" Bonnie was doubtful, seeing the longing looks the blonde always gave Stefan at school.

"She summoned Mikael because Klaus didn't want them together. I would say she definitely—"

"YOU DID WHAT?" Klaus roared, making Bonnie drop her phone and turn around.

"Shit! Luce, hold on!" Seeing Klaus in full hybrid face, ready to leap at Rebekah, Bonnie fought to contain the situation. She used her magic to seal the parlor doors shut and ignited the fireplace so that the burning sage would silence the room to prying ears. She turned back to the fighting Originals. Kol had pulled Rebekah to safety across the room while Elijah stood between them and the furious hybrid. Bonnie blasted Klaus to the opposite wall and pinned him there just as he was about to bite Elijah. He was going to BITE Elijah. Fury consumed Bonnie. She marched straight up to the struggling Original Hybrid and smacked in him the face. The resounding smack brought silence to the room. "Calm down, Klaus!"

"Calm down? Calm down?" he was too upset with Rebekah to be bothered by the witch's slap. "My own SISTER betrayed me to MIKAEL because her only concern was for gaping her thighs for MARCEL! Is it any wonder why I daggered you, Rebekah? You spent so much time whoring yourself to any man who gave you a moment's attention! How pathetic are you?" he sneered.

Rebekah was silent, but Bonnie could see her shoulders shaking as she cried in Elijah's arms.

"Brother," Kol said with a frown. "That is enough."

"It is not nearly enough, Kol."

"Still think this is a good idea?" Lucy chimed in after having listened to Klaus's verbal destruction of his baby sister.

Bonnie sighed and went to pick up her phone. "It's too late to turn back now, Luce. You're still on my side in this, right?"

Lucy gave a disgusted snort. "Do you really have to ask me that?"

Bonnie turned back to the Originals, but kept her eyes on Klaus. "I want to release you, but you can't attack or try to bite your brothers or Rebekah. Jesus, Klaus, you were seconds away from biting Elijah! That in itself is enough for me to kill you right now."

Klaus gave Bonnie a patronizing look that set her teeth to grind. "We both know that even as powerful as you are, love, you cannot kill me."

"Marcel's totalitarian reign is starting to look better by the minute, B."

Klaus's eyes narrowed on the phone in Bonnie's hand even as he wore the smile that everyone in the room understood to be the last sight his victims would ever see. "Lucy," he purred. "It's wonderful to hear your voice. Since you and my dear Katerina parted ways, I was afraid that someone might kill you before I had the chance to myself."

"Hello to you too, Klaus," Lucy answered sounding the picture of calm. But no one was ever calm when it came to dealing with Klaus. "Since I inadvertently let the proverbial cat out of the bag, yes, Rebekah did call Mikael to have you bumped off—sorry, Rebekah—but since Mikael is the one who died by your hands, I think it's safe to say it's time to move on."

"Witch," Klaus growled. "You know nothing of Mikael nor the implications of what my darling sister has done."

"But I do," Bonnie cut in. "Let's not forget that I was there and outvoted when Damon and Katherine came up with the brilliant idea to wake the crazy bastard." Elijah stood behind Bonnie, uncomfortable with the knowledge that she had been exposed to Mikael. "And had Damon not stopped me I would have burned him alive, healed him, drowned him in vervain laced water, and started all over again."

Kol shivered and moaned from her vindictiveness. "Be still my beating heart."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Fine, clearly the Mikael thing is not something to be resolved tonight. Okay," she said, mostly to herself. "One issue at a time." She released Klaus, but kept a barrier between him and Rebekah just in case he lost control again. "I'm just going to come out and say it." She looked at the Originals steadily. "This little family reunion show is exactly that—a show. There won't be any hand holding and skipping off into the sunset. Your mother has an agenda tonight and she's using your brother Finn as the catalyst."

"How dare you?" Bonnie figured Rebekah would be the first to object to what was staring her in the face. "Our mother wants us to be a family again. She wants us to make peace with you and your little friends," she spat, clearly wanting the opposite. "And she would never hurt Finn or any of us."

Bonnie couldn't hide her incredulity, but it was Lucy who spoke the words. "Really, Rebekah? The fact that you exist 1000 years later contradicts everything you've said."

"And are you honestly trying to tell me it didn't hurt any of you when she stood back and allowed Mikael to kill you?" they had to be smarter than this to have survived for so long. "Have any of you actually stopped to think about your mother's state of mind?"

"What do you mean?"

Bonnie ignored her heart fluttering at the sound of Elijah's voice. "You all are well-versed in magic and even practiced it before the change was forced on you. You know how the spirits operate. They are powerful, consuming, righteous, and vengeful all at once. Now imagine your mother, one of their servants going against their laws, going against nature herself and creating four scourges of the earth, as well as a hybrid who combines the best and worst of two of the world's most deadly supernatural creatures. Don't you think they would be pissed? Do you think they would ever let her have peace on the other side considering all of the people you have killed between you?"

She could see Elijah's eyes widen a little as the implications finally began to set in. "They tortured her," he breathed.

"What?" tears filled Rebekah's eyes. "Mother was tortured?"

"Because of us?" Klaus scoffed, skeptically.

"Not just because of what you have done, but because of what was done to you at her own hands."

"All because your mother couldn't see past her own grief to accept that death comes to us all. Even immortals."

"When we killed," Rebekah pressed her hand over her mouth. "When we tortured?"

"Your mother experienced every ounce of pain you inflicted on your victims."

"Shit," Kol swore softly. The sarcastic humor and cruel veneer that often danced in his eyes was stripped away. Bonnie thought in that moment Kol looked even more like Elijah than she first thought.

"And now after 1,000 years of torment and suffering on the other side, she's back."

"To kill us!" Klaus snarled, pacing the floor. "Was it not enough that she killed us all, that she bound my werewolf side for centuries, now she thinks that she can make all of her wrongs right by destroying us once and for all?"

"That's exactly what she thinks," Bonnie answered, keeping her eyes on Klaus. Astonishingly, she was being to feel a little sympathy. Sympathy for the devil. That was the song he should have dedicated at the '60s dance, she thought distractedly.

"How do you know she's using Finn?" Rebekah asked, having gained control of her emotions.

"I could feel Esther's magical signature surrounding his mind."

"You can read and identify magical signatures," Rebekah said, watching Bonnie with something close to awe.

"There's a lot B can do, and if this goes the way I'm thinking it will, Esther will be targeting her soon."

Bonnie looked at the phone in her hands with a frown. "What are you talking about, Luce?"

"Think about it. Esther initially sought Ayanna's help for the spell, but when Ayanna refused, Esther turned to darker means, borderline expressionism." Bonnie took note of Kol's suddenly tense shoulders, but filed that reaction away for further examination for another time.

"She is the Original Witch. I can't see her needing my help."

"But it makes perfect sense," Elijah interrupted, making it increasingly difficult for Bonnie to ignore his presence. Especially considering the sly steps he took towards her as they talked. "You said it yourself. Esther spent 1000 years on the other side being tortured for our sins. One of the most painful ways to torture a witch is to bind her magic or in desperate cases, rip it away from her."

Bonnie inhaled sharply. "I don't want to know how you know that. So Esther has the plan and the spell, but she doesn't have the juice."

"Which would be where you come in."

Bonnie opened her mouth and froze. She could be imagining it, but she could swear the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. And that was when she realized the world's most dangerous hybrid was standing directly behind her.

"Has the game started again already?" she asked, calmly.

Klaus chuckled as he prowled a slow circle around her, his hands behind his back. "You know by now how well I respond to threats against my family, little witch. If your theories about Esther prove true then it would save us all a great deal of trouble if I were to just…end you now."

Elijah's growl echoed around the room as the veins crawled along his face. Everyone could see he was just moments away from attacking his younger brother.

"Don't you dare, Klaus!" Bonnie could hear tears in her cousin's voice.

Bonnie decided to ignore them both and focused directly on Klaus. "Killing me won't accomplish anything accept forcing Esther to stray from her initial plans of binding your life-force together and using Finn as the sacrifice to end vampires once and for all." That gave him pause. "Now you understand. As Originals, your death would mean the death of every vampire you turned as well as every vampire they turned and so on. It would be a domino effect you could say."

"And why should we trust you, little witch? Why, when it was you who released Esther from her coffin to begin with?" Klaus accused.

"I wanted you dead," Bonnie admitted. "I let my resentment towards you overrule everything else, never stopping to think that if you die so does Caroline, Tyler and the Salvatore brothers."

"How can you possibly know all of this?" Rebekah questioned.

"Witches talk, even the dead ones."

"How would she do this?" Kol asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

"She plans to speak privately with Elena. It was doppelganger blood that turned you, it would be almost poetic that doppelganger blood would destroy you."

Bonnie could see the wheels spinning in Klaus's head. "And no, Klaus, you're not killing Elena either."

Klaus took a threatening step closer. Bonnie focused her magic and held Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah in place in case they tried to stop what she planned next. "And just how exactly do you plan on stopping me, love?"

Bonnie carefully reached out and touched Klaus's face. To an outsider, it resembled a lover's caress…until Klaus's eyes widened as he gasped for air. His skin turned ashen gray and large blue veins emerged all over his skin. He lost his strength and fell to his knees, unable to withdraw from her deadly touch. "You forget, Klaus. My mother desiccated Mikael. It's a spell I know very well and I have no compunctions sentencing you to the same fate. We can do this either with you or without you. The choice is yours."

Bonnie withdrew her hand and rose to her full height as the effects of the spell faded away. The room was deathly silent as Klaus took a moment to recover. He sprung to his feet with a wanting grin that left her wishing she had gone through with the desiccation anyway. "What's the plan, then?"

The night went exactly as Bonnie and Lucy expected. Esther let Elena in on her plan to kill her children and successfully obtained her blood to link them together. The Originals each drank a glass of champagne laced with doppelganger's blood so that Esther wouldn't suspect anything was amiss. Bonnie herself would play up the role of the wounded ex and do all she could to help Esther rid their lives of her children. And while Esther attempted to draw energy from Bonnie on the night of the next full moon, Bonnie would call on the spirits of her ancestors once more and destroy Esther once and for all.

Bonnie toweled her hair dry as she sat before her vanity mirror. She was officially in league with the Originals in exchange for freeing the witches of New Orleans from Marcel's oppression. She couldn't tell her friends this because they would never understand. Oh, they would agree wholeheartedly that Marcel was wrong, but they would never accept her siding with Klaus. A part of Bonnie didn't really accept it either, but she knew the outcome was what her ancestors would want.

Those were about the only things she accomplished at the Mikaelson ball. Her plans of strolling in looking like she had just stepped off a Paris runway and looking Elijah in the eyes so that he could see just how over him she was, was a positive fail. She could barely look at him, and when she did, it was so obvious that she was still hurting because of him.

It was well after midnight, and yet Bonnie couldn't sleep. She knew if she did, she would have the same dream she had been having for months. Elijah's dark eyes meeting hers at the sacrifice site as he apologized before taking Klaus and running off.

Instead of sleeping, she sat on her bed trying to lose herself in the pages of one of her favorite novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God hoping that Janie and Tea Cake's tragic love would distract her from her own, while listening to Mariah Carey's Greatest Hits album. Her soulful crooning of Love Takes Time filled the room. She tried, unsuccessfully, not to let the words tug her heartstrings.

Bonnie sat up and turned the music down to background noise.

KNOCK KNOCK

She walked downstairs cautiously, knowing whoever was at her door had an agenda for showing up after midnight. She hoped it wasn't Klaus. She would hate if he forced her to break the tentative cease-fire they established.

Bonnie opened the door and felt her breath catch. "Elijah."

"Bonnie," he whispered her name like a prayer. He had changed out of his tux, but not into one of his favorite suits. Instead, he was wearing a pair of jeans of all things and a white button down. His hair fell over his eyes and Bonnie's fingers itched to brush it back. Even dressed down, Elijah looked perfect. "May I come in?"

"You already have the invitation, Elijah." She stepped aside allowing him entry and closed the door behind him, unabashedly staring at how wonderful his ass looked in those jeans before he could catch her.

"I thought you may have found a way to revoke my invitation." He stood in her living room, standing still, refusing to free her from his gaze.

"I considered it, especially when I never thought I would see you again." He looked away in shame and Bonnie forced down the need to comfort him. "Why are you here, Elijah?"

"You never gave me a dance tonight."

Bonnie's frown deepened. "What?"

"Twice with Niklaus, once regrettably with Kol, and then of course there was your dance with Finn that left me with this overwhelming desire to remove my older brother's head from his shoulders." Bonnie blinked and Elijah was standing directly in front of her. She could taste his scent on her tongue as he gingerly caressed the darkening bruises on her arms in the shape of Finn's fingers. "He hurt you."

"I've had worse." She tried to hide just how much his gentle touches affected her. It felt like the months had been years since she felt his skin against hers. "Besides, we already established that Esther's the driving force behind Finn's actions." Bonnie licked her lips and suddenly felt claustrophobic. The house was too small and Elijah's presence was steadily tearing down the defenses she spent the summer carefully crafting should she ever see him again. "It's late. You should—"

"I miss you," he declared, moving closer to her.

"Don't do this."

"Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Stop," she whispered, trembling.

His hand touched the side of her neck and his thumb softly stroked against her earlobe, taking her back to the first and only time they made love. "Every day I replay that night again and again in my head. I see your devastation and hear you whispering my name."

Bonnie found the strength to shrug out of his embrace and put several paces of distance between them. "What's done is done, Elijah. Why are you even here? I already agreed to stop your mother from killing you and your family, what else could you possibly want from me?"

"Everything." He stared down into her eyes and Bonnie couldn't stop shivering. There was want, adoration, and much of the same psychotic mania Bonnie had seen in Klaus's eyes. "I assure you, Kol did not paraphrase in the least. I cannot get you out of my head, Bonnie. Even when Klaus daggered me I still could see the pain in your eyes. Through those months of endless darkness all I could see were your eyes."

"And is that supposed to make me feel better? You come back to town and you shower me with flowers and poetic notes, and trinkets and I'm suddenly supposed to let everything go?"

Elijah's deep brown eyes darkened as his nostrils flared. "Does this resistance have anything to do with a certain Salvatore brother whose scent lingers in this house?"

"Don't you dare accuse me!" lightning lit up the sky outside. "YOU left ME! I'm not the type of girl to sleep around, Elijah. I gave myself to you and the very next night you betrayed me!"

"Then he was there to comfort you, because he knows abandonment so well?"

"Yes, he did comfort me," she said, defiantly. "But in the end it was still you I wished was in my bed."

Elijah stared at her for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, Bonnie saw the black fading from his eyes until her beloved brown returned. "I forgive you."

A window shattered in the living room.

"You forgive me?" she whispered. "I don't need or want your forgiveness."

"What is it you want me to say, Bonnie?" he yelled, losing his composure for the fifth time that night.

"I CAN'T TRUST YOU, ELIJAH! ALL OF YOUR PROMISES, ALL OF YOUR TALK ABOUT KEEPING YOUR WORD AND NEVER HURTING ME DIDN'T MEAN SHIT IN THE END!"

"HE HAD MY FAMILY, BONNIE. WHAT DID YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?"

"100 WITCHES, ELIJAH! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL HIM. YOU COULD HAVE SNAPPED HIS NECK AND I COULD HAVE SEALED HIM IN THE TOMB, AND WE COULD HAVE FOUND YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTER TOGETHER!"

Traitorous tears spilled from her eyes as her chest heaved up and down. "You were the first man I've ever been with, Elijah. You swore to me that I was safe with you, that I made you feel things no else had in centuries, and then the very next night you threatened to kill me if I stopped you from leaving with Klaus." Bonnie's chin quivered as she swallowed down the sobs threatening to spill forth. "Do you have any idea what that felt like? Yeah, Damon did come to me because he understood my pain. And we almost did have sex, but I accidentally said your name and I knew I couldn't go there with him or anyone else."

Now that she had let it all out, all of the pain and anger she had suppressed for months, all Bonnie wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry it out.

Elijah watched her silently. Tears fell endlessly from her eyes, her lips trembled with restrained sobs, and her body shook in an effort to hold herself together. "You said it once when you thought that I had fallen asleep. Now I am asking you to say it again."

"You can't," Bonnie shook her head. "It's not the same anymore."

Hearing those words literally drove Elijah to his knees. "I do not deserve you, Bonnie." He looked up at her beseechingly. "I did not then and I do not now. But I am in love with you. When you came into my life, it made me realize that I was never really living. I was only existing. Existing for the sole purpose of avenging my family's deaths at the hands of our brother. It mattered not to me who I used and killed to benefit my own purpose. I can honestly say that Rosemarie, and even that dastardly Trevor, offering me Elena Gilbert was one of the greatest days of my life." Bonnie's shoulders hunched disappointedly, thinking that he was just another who had fallen under her friend's spell. "Because meeting her led me directly to you. You, who so bravely threatened to use every means at your disposal to end me if I ever hurt anyone you loved. You may be the Bennett witch, but you were always so much more in my eyes. You are beautiful, strong, brave, loyal, loving, sacrificing, and uncommonly pitiable to worthless creatures like myself. I thank every god, deity, and goddess known to man for giving me the honor of sharing even a little of your love. I hurt you, I abandoned you in the cruelest way after you gave me your precious gift and I will never forgive myself for it, but do not ask me to walk away from you again, Bonnie. I can never. I will never."

Bonnie's trembling hand reached out and she lightly dragged her fingers through his hair. "Elijah," she whispered.

He slowly rose to his feet and moved closer to her until she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes. His large hands encircled her hips as he pressed his nose in her hair. "Say the words," he whispered, desperately. "I need to hear them from your beautiful lips."

"I still love you, Elijah. I don't know how to stop."

"Do you wish to?"

She paused for a beat. "No."

Elijah pulled back and looked down in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her lips and Bonnie promptly threaded her fingers through his hair. His kisses were hot and wonderful, gently soothing the pain of the months they spent apart. She parted her lips and the taste of his tongue exploded in her mouth. She moaned desperately and heat rushed between her thighs when he squeezed her ass and wrapped her legs around his waist. Air rushed around her and she found herself lying back in her bed. Elijah hovered over Bonnie, letting her take off her Whitmore tee. Her breasts bounced freely for only a moment before Elijah's large hands cupped and massaged them. His soft lips encased her left nipple while his long fingers teased the other. His wet mouth suckling her went straight to her throbbing clit. Elijah's lips and tongue against her skin was like heaven and a little bit of hell as he kept alternating between breasts whenever he sensed her getting too close to coming.

"Elijah, don't tease me," Bonnie whimpered. "I need to feel you again."

He growled softly and pulled back. Like a magnet, she followed him. Sitting up and tearing open his shirt. Buttons scattered all over the floor as she swallowed to keep from drooling at the sight of his muscled chest. She had let, more like forced, herself to forget how perfect his body was. With a wiggle of her fingers, Bonnie killed the lights so that she could see his perfection bathed in moonlight, just like their first night together. He kicked off his shoes and socks as she shimmied out of her shorts. The scent of her arousal flooded the room, and when Bonnie saw Elijah's fangs lengthening, she grew just a little wetter. She held his gaze as she slowly slid her soaked panties down her legs and tossed them over the side of the bed. Bonnie reveled in Elijah's heated gaze. He made her feel sexy and wanted. He made her feel as if he had never seen any woman before her and would never want to see any other after her. She crawled towards him. His hardened length strained desperately against his zipper. Bonnie kissed his stomach, his abs, flicked her tongue over his nipples, nibbled along his jawline, and devoured his mouth when she reached his lips. Her small hands reached between them and deftly unworked his pants. Elijah showered soft kisses up and down her pulse point, fighting hard to ignore his beast demanding for him to bite her, mark her for the world, for Salvatore, to see that she was his and his alone. Elijah hissed sharply as her hot little hand cupped and stroked him. She gathered his sticky pre-cum on her fingers and stroked him, tightening her grip as more gushed out onto her palm. She kissed down his body again until her hot little breaths were teasing the head of his cock.

"Bonnie," he begged.

Slowly, torturously, her hot, wet mouth encased him inch by inch until the tip of her nose brushed against his pelvis. Her wet fingers caressed his balls and Elijah's fingers threaded through her soft hair. He had to exercise all of his restraint not fuck her mouth to his completion. She pulled back letting him fall from her mouth with a wet pop, only to dive back in tracing the pulsing veins with the tip of her tongue. Just when he was least expecting it, Bonnie quickly sucked him down her throat. Her bedroom was a symphony of his harsh breaths, the wet sucks of her greedy mouth and light squish of her juices being smeared as she rubbed her thighs together to alleviate her own building pressure.

"Knees apart," he ordered, hoarsely.

Bonnie whimpered, knowing he meant for her to stay wanting until he had his turn with her body. She obeyed and lightly scraped her teeth against the underside of his cock. He hardened further and Bonnie hallowed her cheeks, sucking him with a renewed vigor, desperate to have every drop.

"Bon…I…don't…FUCK!" he roared, his seed flooding her mouth. She swallowed three times to get it all and swiftly jabbed her tongue in between his slit prompting two more spurts against her tongue.

She was on her back again with Elijah spreading her legs in the perfect split. Her licked her thighs, gathering her spilled essence as she gasped and tugged at her nipples. She jerked feeling his tongue give a slow, teasing lick to the outer edges of her bare lips. His hair tickled the top of her mound and Bonnie almost came as she sat up on her elbows. The sight of Elijah's head between her thighs was sinful. He continued his teasing licks steering clear of her hardened clit peeking out from between her folds and her quivering hole running in rivers.

"Eli—AAHH!" her begging became screams as his lips fastened around her clit without warning. His fingers teased her entrance as her legs trembled. The first of many orgasms of the night hit her as her back arched off the bed. Elijah didn't stop. He worked fingers with supernatural speed as she thrust against his face. "Elijah, please, inside," she whimpered, desperately needing to be filled. In lieu of an answer, he twisted his fingers upwards and stars burst behind Bonnie's eyes as she drenched his hand and mouth.

Elijah reluctantly pulled back. He could have happily spent the entire night feasting between her thighs and gorging on her essence. He positioned himself above her as she watched him through lidded eyes. "Once I am inside you again, Bonnie, I will NEVER let you go."

Tears sparkled in Bonnie's eyes. "I'm yours," she promised. "Only yours." She cried out as he entered her swiftly, stopping to let her adjust to his length again. He moved once she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Elijah's eyes closed as her deliciously wet sheath swallowed his length. THIS was his home. He interlocked their hands above her head as her busy little tongue plundered his mouth. Each kiss, each thrust wiped away all of the pain and anger that had festered between them. Elijah had been a fool to think he could ever live without her. That he could ever spend a day let alone an eternity without connecting with her this way.

"Elijah," she gasped, as he titled her hips to pound her g-spot. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

He picked her up and set her astride his lap, sinking even deeper inside her. She screamed and moaned as the wet slaps of her sweaty skin against his and squelch of her juices as she began squirting all over his thighs. Her heady scent called his beast to the surface again, and when Bonnie saw the veins rising under Elijah's eyes, she threaded her fingers through his hair and brought his face to her neck never faltering as she rode him. Elijah's fangs slid in her neck like a knife through butter and it was enough to give her the longest orgasm she had ever experienced. The instant her blood touched his tongue, Elijah roared and shot long ribbons of come deep inside her womb. Lights flared and exploded all around the house, windows shattered, framed portraits cracked and fell to the floor, and lightning lit the night's sky.

Across town in the Mikaelson Manor, Kol, who had amused himself by reading about his hybrid brother's growing obsession with the baby fangs Caroline Forbes, glanced towards the window at the spontaneous strikes of lightning across the sky and chuckled knowingly.

"Lucky dog."

Bonnie collapsed in a sweaty, boneless heap beside Elijah. "I can't feel my legs."

"Then I have done my job correctly," he preened as she giggled. He lightly traced the marks on her neck as she shivered. "This is permanent you know," he said, casually. "Every vampire, werewolf, and hybrid will know that you are marked as mine."

"And my scent?"

"Has merged with mine."

Bonnie grinned lazily. "Good. Now I won't have to waste time telling anyone who I belong to."

He kissed her forehead gently. "Bonnie," she looked up hearing the playfulness depart. "I cannot apologize enough for saying—"

"Sshh," she pressed her finger against his lips. "I forgive you, Elijah. I knew deep down that if you hadn't have been awakened, I would have come for you. You were too much a part of me for me to ever let you go."

Elijah stared down at the little witch in his arms, still unable to fathom what he could have possibly done to deserve her love. He wanted her forever. The thought of watching her grow old and die was unacceptable. But he wouldn't let those depressing thoughts destroy their night of reconciliation.

"Perhaps, but you should know something about me, Bonnie."

"And what's that?"

"Everything I do, I do it thoroughly until I am satisfied with the end result. This includes apologies."

Bonnie frowned. "I already told you I…" Elijah grinned, flashing those secret dimples she adored before disappearing under the covers. Her mouth formed the perfect "o" shape when his tongue caressed her. "By all means," she gasped, settling her legs over his shoulders. "Grovel away."