A/N: this is what happens when you read klonnie fic.
Chapter 1: life of a fly
"I should kill you this instant. Rip that valiant heart out of your chest for all the world to see."
Bonnie blinks once, and shifts ever so slightly in her seat. Her head is still swimming in choppy waters. Her mouth tastes like cotton. Her neck is intact. She does not trust it, though. Her magic is sleepy and she wants to sleep too. But she sticks her chin up in defiance. She even does her best to ignore his words. She can't quite ignore him, though. He no longer looks like her history teacher. He has his own body and the reality of his existence, final and eternal, cements her failure. She had lost, when everything was said and done.
"But you won't," she replies instinctively. She should have said, "you can't", since she has enough power to protect herself from an Original. Whether she has enough power to attack is a different thing…
"No," he smirks, "I won't". Bonnie is startled by the color of his eyes. Rich amber. She is repulsed. Nothing good can come of this. She feels a chill run down her spine.
"What are you going to do with me?" she demands, making sure her voice is low and firm.
"You almost broke my brother and I apart," he replies casually, as if he were talking about the weather.
"Elijah agreed to help us. So, I'd say you two were already broken."
Perhaps this bit of defiance is too much for him. It takes him two strides to stand over her chair and grip her chin painfully between his fingers.
"Careful, witch. I'm not as benevolent as he is."
She pulls her head away, but the mark of his fingers is embedded in her skin.
"No one would make that confusion," she mumbles, looking down at her boots.
She thinks she hears a chuckle, but it's more sinister than merry.
"You certainly won't after I'm done."
Bonnie knows that if she swallows her saliva now, it will be a sign of weakness.
"You didn't answer my question. If you're not going to kill me…what are you going to do?"
Klaus crouches down until they are at eye-level. His expression looks innocent. It would be a mistake to judge it as sincere.
"Oh, Bonnie. I'm going to do the next best thing. I'm going to make you wish I had. Killed you, that is."
Her muscles tense. For the first time, she feels the pain in her wrists. She absurdly hopes that he'll untie her before proceeding to make her miserable.
But no. That's probably part of the suffering.
"So, you're going to make me suffer." Her throat is dry, but still, she doesn't swallow the saliva. She raises her chin, tremulously. "Go ahead. I've had my share of that. I survived before, I'll survive this too."
Klaus tilts his head back. He considers her for a moment with the trained eye of the huntsman. His face could be cut from marble for all its mobility. There is something uncanny about his "beauty". She wouldn't call it that. She doesn't know what to call it. Ruthlessness, maybe.
She is afraid. He can hear the blood rushing in her veins and the mad dance of her heart and she knows he knows. But on a deeper level, she is not afraid. She is resigned, because her life has never been easy-going and this is just another obstacle in the road. True, this one might prove insurmountable, but the Bennetts are famous for trying, if nothing else.
"You are preparing yourself for battle," he says at last, meeting her eyes. "You underestimate me. I have no intention of letting you off easy. My punishment will be…much more subtle. And efficient."
Bonnie feels the rise of her chest. She is probably betraying herself. The truth is, Klaus terrifies her in an entirely foreign way. And she is at pains to understand why. After some moments of silence, something clicks.
He has patience.
He is a thousand years old. Chances are, he will live to see the next thousand. He has probably outlived most of his enemies. Not because he is strong, but because he knew to wait. He is patient.
She suddenly wants to bargain with him. Make a deal. A spell or two in exchange for her freedom? Something she can later wipe from her memory? The patience scares her.
She licks her lips. No, she shouldn't have done that.
Now, Klaus knows he has her.
"Ah, you are not happy at the prospect."
"My friends will notice I'm gone. They'll come after me."
"Will they?" he taunts, pressing the tips of his fingers together.
The room seems vast to her, now that her head is clearing. She can see white sheets draped over furniture. And potted plants which have died unattended.
"Their incentive is rather lacking," he continues, following her eyes around the room. "I gave them a choice. You or them."
Bonnie smiles a bitter smile. The disbeliever's smile.
"You think they'll choose themselves."
"Oh, no, love. I think you will."
Bonnie feels like one of her feet has slipped. She is not on solid ground, even though she's sitting down. She wonders if it's day or night. She has no way of knowing. The room has no window to the outside world.
"Say the word, and I will set you free and take Stefan or Elena instead. Maybe even her droll little brother, Jeremy."
Bonnie looks up. Another rookie mistake. He notices.
"You only need ask me," he repeats and his face is serene and satisfied.
Bonnie bites her tongue. "You know I won't."
"Yes. I know."
The life of a fly. That is how long it takes to settle her fate.
