Authors notes:

This is my first fic in almost 2 years, but I've been wanting to write something Kai related for a while now & this is one of the ideas I had…

- thoughts in italics, as are memories (which will be indicated)

- there are a few curse words in here, but it's nothing too major (let's be honest, they're all adults in mystic falls so I don't see when they wouldn't use them)

- worked around and built upon the scenes from the episode,

- It's not really known if Kai genuinely thought he was dying or not, but that's the assumption I'm working with here…

- It's written mostly from Kais POV

He wakes up to an early morning light in his sitting room and a pounding in his head that feels like it's boring its way through his skull in time with his pulse… the pain fades a little as he adjusts his position on the couch 'it's getting worse. Waking up with a headache and everything aching was nothing new to Kai, in fact it was almost becoming a familiar feeling... it had started the day after the merge and it had been getting worse since… Now, almost a week and a half later, here he lies on his couch shaking, he also has a headache and cold sweats... and now 'shit' his stomach roll. He pushes himself up, not taking time to notice the dizzy spell that assaults him he grabs the trash bin next to the couch, he empties the contents of his stomach now aching. Opening his eyes notices it's not sick that's in the bin, but blood, and now he really panics.

He grabs his phone and finds the number he wants and hits the dial button... he's not entirely sure what the reaction will be to his call will be, but what he knows is that he needs help, and that there's only one person who can give that help to him. The phone rings a few times before a tired and strained voice answers "Hello?"

He can't help but choke on his own breath as he half states and asks at the same time "Jo?" this is the first time he's spoken to her since the merge, and that cocky cheeky part of him that's still there wants to say something sarcastic and cheeky about it, but the other newer and unfamiliar part of him isn't sure how to proceed from here, but it doesn't want to be cheeky to her.

Her voice becomes a little stronger now but something doesn't sound right "Hello? Who's this?" she asks.

"Um…" taking a breath before speaking again he says "It's Kai…" he can hear her sharp intake of breath and he starts "...No, wait.. I just…"

Jo cuts him off before he even get out what he needs to tell her as she asks "How the hell did you get my number?"

He thinks 'c'mon did you really think I wouldn't have your number sissy?' but he sighs and tries to explain why he's calling "Listen Jo I really…"

She interrupts again "No. It doesn't even matter... I don't know what you want… but we're done. You got your merge so just go, leave us all the hell alone!" she clears the call but not before he hears a lot of shuffling and a sound that sounds like his sister was retching.

'Oh no...' he's pretty sure he knows what's going on now, if he's sick and Jo is sick then it only confirms his suspicions that this isn't some kind of disease he's picked up, but it's a magical sickness of sorts… Yes, he got his merge as Jo had put it, but it wasn't done correctly with the correct twin, so it only makes sense if he's getting sick that Jo and the rest of the coven will soon follow suit and if he dies... 'Damn Gemini coven and it's stupid rules' he thinks as he pushes himself up and stumbles into the bedroom. While he's getting dressed he can barely see and the room is spinning so fast it forces him to sit on the bed, he lies back for what he swears will only be a minute to steady himself...

...When he opens his eyes it's much lighter outside, and the headache has cleared up a little more. The bedside clock and it shows 10am 'crap' he curses himself for falling asleep as he heads back into the living room. Grabbing his phone, he calls Jo again hoping that she'll at least listen to him this time, but he doesn't even get the chance to ask for her help as the ringing in his ear changes into her voicemail. He hangs up, not even bothering to leave a message, he wouldn't blame her if she didn't listen to it anyway… The neausea starts making itself known again and he decides this really can't wait, he needs help, he can't die and he can't take the risk of causing his entire covens extinction. He grabs his jacket and decides that if Jo won't speak to him on the phone he'll go to her house.

Walking up the stairs to Jos apartment, the nausea makes itself known again, he has to stop and take a few deep breaths to stop himself being sick and collapsing on the stairwell. An older man walks down the stairs past him. He stops, looking concerned but but also wary, as he opens his mouth to probably ask if he's okay Kai just gives a 'walk on' glare at the man and he does just that… Kai feels a familiar sense of satisfaction at the effects that his glare has on people. Pushing himself off from the wall, he resumes his climb up the stairs and eventually arrives in front of Jos door. He comes to a halt as he tries to compose himself and straighten his clothes out a little, he might be feeling like he's on his way to deaths, door but he really doesn't want to appear any weaker than he already needs to, especially if Alaric is in there with his sister. After a few deep breaths he rings the bell, and few seconds later the door opens to reveal Alaric standing there 'oh great'. He manages utter "Hey" before the door closes again. Lifting his hand he stops the door from closing in his face "Wait, wait, wait, wait… Look... I know you hate me, but I really... really need to see my sister."

He expects a snarky remark from Alaric, so the "I think she'll pass" as he starts to close the door again doesn't really come as much of a surprise.

He opens his mouth to stop him a second time, but he's interrupted by a short "What are you doing here?" from Jo as she appears in the sitting room doorway.

'Thank god' he can't help but be surprised at the flood of relief at hearing his sisters voice, hoping that she'll help him he says "I called to tell you I was sick, and you you hung up on me…"

Jo cuts him off mid sentence "Because I have food poisoning...Did the sound of me vomiting on the other end of the line not clue you in?"

'Still has no time for me then, not much has changed there...' Kai doesn't take the time to acknowledge that thought, he knows he has to get Jo onside if she's going to help him with this. He sighs the breath out he never even realised he'd been holding, getting rid of the anger building up as he explains "Look… There's an issue that I've been worried about since the merge because we didn't really do it right, you know, the whole 'you're not my twin… Hey that's ok, close enough plan?' It worked, which is, you know, cool..." It's part sarcasm, partly to be annoying and partly anger at the way he's been treated that makes him break off and turn to Alaric "Hey, I'm even a little bit nice now in case you were wondering." 'gotcha' He laughs at the eyeroll knowing he's pushed one of the guys buttons. Returning his gaze to Jo, Kai continues "...but I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop..." He has to stop and take a breath to stop himself being sick "...and, well, I think it's dropped, because I'm…" he can feel the sick coming and knows he can't stop it, giving in to it he asks "Where's the bathroom?"

It's like his insides are being ripped apart as he doesn't have the time to wait for them to tell him where the bathroom is, folding in on himself, Kai starts being sick as he vaguely hears a worried tone from Jo "Oh, God, Ric!"

A object is placed in front of him with a short "Here" from Alaric, but he can't acknowledge that as he hunches over it and empties his stomach 'more blood'.

After the assault on his insides passes he reasons "I don't think you have food poisoning" before moving back a little to return his gaze to Jo. He explains "I was supposed to merge my magic with you, but I got Luke's instead." Taking a breath, he jumps to the point he's trying to make since he doesn't think he has it in him to explain the situation fully, he continues "Now I'm defective..." as he stands back up and leans against the door frame "...and I think that's why you're sick… I kind of feel like I'm dying actually, and if I die, so do you, Dad, Liv, and the rest of our dumb coven." He's hoping that he comes across as sincere and they don't automatically assume that he's up to something when he adds in "So would you please fix me, like, now?"

Jo takes a deep breath and runs her hands over her face, as she pushes it out Kai can't help but think 'shit, she's gonna say no' and the worry blossoms in the pit of his already queasy stomach. So he's surprised when he hears her say "Okay, I'll help."

"Wait, what? You're buying this?" Alaric says in a skeptical tone as he points at Kai, looking from Jo to him and back again.

It's her turn to sigh and roll her eyes now as she gestures in Kais direction "For gods sakes Ric! I can't just turn him away... he's vomiting up blood for god sakes!" he opens his mouth to say it's not the first time today that's happened, but Jo continues "It can't be a coincidence that we're both sick… that's how this thing works, so if he is dying then we'll all die with him…" she looks at Kai and tells him "come in and sit down while I get dressed, we'll go to my surgery and I'll check you over there"

Kai can't help but feel equally relieved 'she believes me', and amused at the exasperation on Alarics face as he steps aside from blocking the doorway and says "Okay… fine… but you try one damn thing…".

Smiling slightly as he enters and walks over to sit down on the couch he replies "...yeah yeah yeah you'll kill me blah blah blah. Well, look at it this way, I'm already halfway there". Ric turns away and walks toward the bedroom after Jo and Kai can hear the loud sigh as he leaves the room.

Kai sits himself up on Jos exam table in her doctors office, glad to be sitting still after having just about controlled his rolling stomach on the car here, Alaric was driving & there's a part of him that's sure the guy was driving like that on purpose to make him sick again. He rolls his eyes at the that.

Jo walks over to him from her desk while Alaric positions himself against the wall next the door, crossing his arms over his chest 'what are you? her bodyguard or her boyfriend?!' he wonders as his attention is pulled to Jo who is shining her light in his eyes and asking "Any joint pain?" He just makes an affirmative noise since he can the nausea is striking up again. "Headaches?" she asks. It's the years of being treated differently by his family and learning to not reveal every weakness to them that makes him think 'dammed if I'm gonna tell them everything' as he hears himself automatically make a negative noise. Jo pulls away and gives him a strange glare as she asks in a sarcastic tone "Are you pregnant?"

He looks up at her quickly 'shouldn't have done that' as the dizzyness his him like a ton of bricks "Stop making jokes?" he half tells and half asks her. "I feel like I'm being scrunched from inside out…". Alaric catches his attention again as Jo moves away and comes back to his side to examine ears. There's just something about this guy he really doesn't like, so he has to say "This is a kind of private… Does your baby-boo need to be here?"

"I'm not leaving her alone with you, so deal with it" is the short reply he recieves along with with a smug facial expression that boils up anger in the pit of his stomach.

Jo comes back into view and before he sends an even more short and to the point reply right back at Alaric she starts to explain "Ok… Your vitals are fine, your temperature is normal… I'll wait on pathology, but there's nothing medically wrong with you."

That bubbling in his stomach returns as he blurts out "Yeah, duh, because I'm magically diseased..." 'if I still feel like crap why does she suddenly seem better?' "...You haven't puked in at least an…" but he can't get it all out as the boiling sensation in his stomach makes its way upwards. He can't even warn his sister as he vomits blood again

There's a distant "Oh!" as a bin is placed in front of him. He reaches out and grabs onto the closest object he can find to stop himself falling from the bed face first. It doesn't register at first it's Jo he's grabbed onto until he hears her groan, while an all too familiar warm feeling travelling from his hand up his arm and into his chest. 'shit'

There's a part of him that wants to break the contact and another part that wants to grab tighter and become more powerful by taking her magic. There's a gruff "Hey, hey!" that he barely hears when the contact his suddenly broken and Jo his being pulled away from him by Alaric who positions himself between Kai and his sister.

"Oh" he exclaims when he realises what just happened "I feel better."

When he looks at Jo she looks less than pleased at the news "Yeah, because you juice-boxed my magic."

'here we go...' "Sorry about that." He takes a deep breath and not for the first time he hopes he looks and sounds as sincere as he means to be and then continues "That was an accident… but I... Wow... I legitimately feel better." Then the realisation hits him like a brick and he blurts it out before he can rephrase it in a way they might actually listen to and consider "You need to give me your magic."

Jo looks shocked and all she can say is "What?"

He reaches for a wipe from the bedside table and asks himself 'do I have to draw a diagram?' as he wipes the blood from his mouth. "This faux merge is clearly failing..." he's so focused on what he's saying he doesn't even realise he's stood up and is stepping towards Jo when Alaric steps in between them. Stopping in his tracks he continues "because I was supposed to get your magic, right? Just I don't know Put it in a Put it in a Teddy bear or a bed pan or whatever and give me…" as he reaches out his hand towards her.

Alaric grabs stops Kais progress toward his sister by grabbing his hand and wrapping his hand around Kais knuckles "Listen…" 'here's that Mr intimidating act again...' Kai muses as the guy continues "...I could just as easily break 7 little bones in your hand with one good squeeze, ok?"

He almost rolls his eyes as he thinks 'pfft yeah I'd like to see you try' "I can see you're skeptical, Ric…" Kai stops what he's saying to break the contact with Alaric before he carries on "...Can I call you Ric?" he sarcastically asks as he gives a fistbump for emphasis. He switches to a more serious tone "Hey, buddy, but here's the thing you need to know is that Jo only survives if I do... ok... and if that's not enough for you? You know the power that binds prison worlds comes from the leader of the gemini coven? If I die, the worlds collapse, all right?" He stops as Alaric rubs his hand over his face and looks exasperated. It's a feeling Kai is sharing with him 'huh… empathy again...' as he asks himself again 'seriously, what is there that's difficult to understand?' He can't help the sarcastic tone that finds it's way into his words "I see vacancy… would you like me to start over with single syllables?"

The sarcasm doesn't even get a reply as Alaric sighs and asks him "Did you say prison worlds? As in more than one?"

'Bingo...' He finally has this guy understanding the gravity of the situation as he asks "Has no one ever mentioned that?"

Jo practically spins on her heels and walks toward the door, motioning a 'come with me' sign over her shoulders. Both Alaric and Kai start following her when she opens it and turns round, looking between them and blurts out a "No, just Ric" then pointing at Kai she adds in "you wait here, we'll be back soon."

"Hope so… this isn't a permanent fix you know…" he replies holding up his arms in a surrender pose and taking a few steps backwards as she walks out the door, closing it behind her. He knows they're out there talking about what just transpired and his revelation about the prison worlds. Truthfully, he doesn't know how many there are, or what they were built for, it's not something he's thought to look into yet… but he does know there's at least another one that he heard about growing up, and then of course his own…

He hears his fathers voice chanting as the office merges and fades away into the forest "Sanguinem filio, sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum. Sanguinem filio, sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum. Phesmatos filio, phesmatos effurgarex perpetuum." "No!" he quietly exclaims, closing his eyes and putting his hand over his face. He tells himself that this isn't real, that it's a flashback and that he's never going back there. 'stop thinking about it, open your eyes' Then the rest of the covens voices unite with his fathers... "Sanguinem filio, sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum. Sanguinem filio, sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum. Phesmatos filio, phesmatos effurgarex perpetuum." He can feel the burning light surrounding him again "This isn't happening!" he shouts when he feels a set of hands on his shoulders. He jumps back when he hears someone calling his name. "Kai!"

"Kai!" his eyes are still closed and he's shaking his head "Kai! Open your eyes, it's Jo!" He opens his eyes and finds himself in the doctors office and Jo standing in front of him with concern plastered all over her face, he hasn't seen that look since the night his father sent him away.

"Oh… I…" he doesn't really know what to say, he doesn't want to explain what just happened and he can't read the expression on his sisters face now.

"It's okay, go to my place and I'll come back when I'm done here." She says in a tone that gives no indication of whether she will help him and give him her magic or try to find another way of saving everyone. She turns around to the counter and turns back with her keys in her hands.

As she walks over to him Alaric steps in front of her "Are you sure about this?"

She steps aside, ignoring what he said and making Kai laugh a little inside, walks over with her arm outstretched and hands the keys to him "Here you go, I'll be back as soon as I can" she says while nodding to the door with her head. He takes the hint, mouths a silent thanks as he grabs his jacket and leaves.

Kai sits on the couch in his sisters house, feeling completely out of place but strangely at home all at once, he wonders if this is what it's like for people who have spent a long time in an actual prison... coming home and trying reconnect with an essentially changed world and trying to catch up on everything they've missed. He hadn't felt it when he first saw them again, too focused on getting what he wanted, but thinking back now to when he first saw Luke and Olivia "Liv... ironic" after getting into town, he registers the surprise at how much they'd grown that he should have felt then. The stab of guilt at how Luke died makes an appearance again, as it usually does every time his little brother crosses his mind. 'If only she'd damn well merged with me then all of this would never have happened...' That thought is pushed away instantly though by the thought of how Luke died, and he realises that while that may be true, if he had merged with Jo then she wouldn't be around anymore either… His father had wanted them to wait until Jo was stronger, he knew from an early age he'd never been the favourite child, he was never supposed to come out on top in the merge that never was. "Stop touching your siblings" his fathers voice rings in his ears, the all too familiar saying and sentiment bearing down on him again. Dad hated it when he had physical contact with anyone in the family in case he accidentally siphoned their magic… preferring to stop it altogether once the younger kids had been born "You can't be trusted" he was told more than once... no wonder the younger kids were scared of him. He hears himself angrily yelling "Might as well just lock me up Dad…"

"Let's do this" Jos determined voice pulls Kai from his thoughts, which he pushes away to the back of his mind.

He breathes out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding as he stand up to face her "Me, our coven, and the prison worlds thank you…"

"What exactly is this other prison world?" Alarics voice from behind interrupts him.

He turns to face him and gives as honest an answer as he muster without giving away what he had just been thinking about "A place filled with crappy people like me I'm sure" He doesn't wait for a reply to his statement, instead turning to Jo and walking towards her as he contiues "...Congrats. You're saving their miserable lives from oblivion." He can see the apprehension clear on his sisters face, he tries to reassure her, but the part of him that can't help but he happy that he will gain more power wins over and his statement comes out as saracastic, complete with rubbing her cheeks with his hands "Oh...Don't look so stressed, you never liked being a witch anyway" as his hands fall back to his sides.

She simpley replies "Shut up." and rolls her eyes as she lifts her hands to cup his face and chants "Oribos turai manecsitus, Orbiem. Oribos turai manecsitus, Orbiem." His eyes are closed but he can feel the slight wind circling around them and he can see the white circle or power that surrounds them as Jo continues chants once more "Oribos turai manecsitus, Orbiem. Oribos turai manecsitus, Orbiem." The white fades and the wind dies down as they both open their eyes. "It's done." She says as she looks a little unsteady and weak.

He half whispers "Thank you" and the realises what he'd picked up on while her magic was transferring into him. He gives her a slight smile as he says "And congratulations." Jo looks very unsure, like she's thinking that this was all an act the get her power and she's waiting on the bomb to drop. He leans in close to her and whispers "it wasn't food poisoning, I sensed it, you're having a baby" He pulls back and can't help but feel amused at her expression. Running his hands through the front of her hair he cups her face in his hands as he says "Have a good life, sissie." Picking up his jacket as he nods to Alaric, he leaves the apartment thinking 'A new generation of Gemini kids...'

Notes:

Please let me know if you liked this or not, or if you have any suggestions or constructive critiscm

I'd have liked it to be little more angsty so I'm considering writing something based on the part where Kais dad stopped him touching the family members and building on that… so if thats something you'd like to see let me know.