Bewitched

Nine Years Ago…

Bonnie strolled down the sidewalk on her way to the bank. She'd been in Chicago for over a month now, having chosen to forgo attending Whitmore College after graduation.

Her father had been nothing less than disappointed.

It wasn't that she was disinterested in college or that she didn't want to attend her grandmother's alma mater. She just wanted to get out of the South for a while and figure out what exactly it was she wanted to do, rather than committing to four years and getting a degree in a field she probably wouldn't be interested in as a career.

Her cousin Lucy invited her to live in Chicago where she could at least take general ed courses at a community college while working at her uncle's restaurant. The general ed courses softened the blow for her father, but not by much.

Being in Chicago drove home for her just how insulated her life in Mystic Falls had been. Sure she'd been to neighboring towns like Fell's Church and she'd been as far as Richmond a few times, but nothing was like this freeway of a city. Her Uncle's restaurant stood in the center of the Loop, the city's financial district. All the noise and activity that came with skyscrapers and corporate America, flanked by the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.

Bennett's Bar & Grille had been around for almost fourty years, her father's older brother Aaron having ventured out of Mystic Falls after receiving an honorable discharge from the Army and setting off for Illinois.

Since Bonnie was only 19, she couldn't work as a bartender like Lucy, or even as a waitress. So Uncle Aaron hired her on as the hostess for the lunch and dinner shifts.

All she did was greet and seat patrons, take reservations and periodically sweep the dining hall to check in on customer satisfaction with the service. It meant that tips were nearly non-existent, but she also wasn't lugging around piles of plates and trying to keep everybody's order straight.

And now she'd just come from receiving her first full paycheck. It wasn't a fortune, but it was a lot more than what she made working at the Dairy Queen back home. Plus since Lucy insisted that she stay with her, Bonnie felt a lot better about being able to contribute to the bill in the apartment despite her cousin's insistence that she was being a "stupidhead" about it. Lucy tended bar at Bennett's from happy hour until closing three days a week, but the majority of her time was spent as a substitute teacher for the school district.

Bonnie's eyes widened when she entered Riverside Savings and Loan. The place was packed. She then remembered that the day was the 1st and just about everyone had gotten paid today too, so she sought out the end of the line and waited; tucking her earbuds in while she searched her podcast list for something to bide the time.

#

One of the great tragedies of the world is that theft is not regarded as the art form it truly is. People focus on the visceral act and go no further. You took something that didn't belong to you and that's that.

People don't take into consideration all that goes on before, during and after your prize-be it a car, someone else's woman, or duffle bags full of cash—is in hand. In order for a theft to be successful, the reward must be two-pronged: the acquisition of your prize and then the removal of it undetected. Which means a great many things need to be accomplished beforehand.

Nik had been in Chicago for the past three months preparing for the day that he and his four partners would crack open Riverside Savings and Loan and relieve it of a considerable amount of money three months from now.

Today, they began the final phase of their preparation: table setting and on-the-ground reconnaissance.

Table setting involved Lucien currently parked in a van outside with his computer system set up; working in concert with Vincent-currently in a manhole-to disrupt this section of the city's powergrid exactly ten seconds after the levers were flipped on a hotel being demolished across town.

Shane was back at the warehouse they'd procured, continuing to research the bank's organizational makeup while Thierry built a workable replica of the bank's vault system; based on the schematics they'd filched earlier.

Reconnaissance involved Nik standing in a ridiculous line mid-day on the 1st to get visual logistical information. Once he finished completing his character, he would return in a month and make physical contact with the bank's personnel.

Considering the amount of work and skill needed to get to this point along with what was needed to complete the job and get away clean-the molding and manipulating of systems, barriers and people in order to bring about the desired result—how can this be anything other than art?

"Ok everybody look sharp. Hotel's down to T-minus five minutes," Lucien's voice announced from Nik's earpiece.

"Standing by," Vincent's voice answered.

Nik shuffled forward in line, casually making note of the number of cameras on the bank floor as well as the number of guards on duty.

This would be the seventh in a string of jobs they'd pulled across the country over the past few years. There would only be three more to go and then they'd quit and go their separate ways—preferably to a non-extradition country of their choosing.

Ten jobs were what they'd agreed to because for all the effort that may go into the art of the bank heist, just as much effort was being put into catching them. The longer they kept at it, the more likely they were to be caught. The ones who get caught usually do so by forgetting that they play with house money each time. And the house will always win if you don't know when to step away from the table.

Ten jobs. Ten jobs and they were out.

"Alright ten seconds," Lucien updated.

"Excuse me, you're holding up the line," Nik heard from a man behind him, followed by startled, "Oh! Sorry," from a husky feminine voice.

A second later the power was out, blanketing the bank in darkness; the only light coming from the midday sun streaming through the windows.

Someone bumped into him hard from behind as a cacophony of alarmed voices erupted. Instinctively, Nik reached out to the body that fell into him, his hands wrapped around a delicate pair of arms. He heard her gasp in surprise as she was jostled by people behind her causing her knees to buckle.

Nik tightened his grip and held her up.

Ten seconds later, the power was back on and he was staring into the most remarkable pair of green eyes he'd ever seen.

Bonnie's eyes widened in surprise as they focused on the stranger who'd caught her before she'd fallen.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his hands sliding from her arms up to her shoulders. His brows were drawn in mild concern but his eyes…the indigo blue of them scanned her face as if trying to figure out who or what she was—as if he could find his answer if he looked deeply enough.

"Um…yeah…I'm ok," she stammered, her eyes shifting under the intensity of his gaze. "I can't speak the rest of these guys though. Who knew so many would freak over a little blackout?" she remarked glibly. Security officers were already calling for calm in raised voices.

"Well, unfortunately we can't all be as brave as you, love," the warm timbre of his voice washed over her and she felt her skin flush in response.

She'd never met let alone been this close to someone like him before. He stood nearly a foot taller than her and wore a crown of golden curls that had been brushed into thick waves. The strong lines of his jaw and chin were covered in a scruff of short blonde hairs that Bonnie instinctively wanted to rub her cheeks against. Her face grew warmer when her eyes landed on his mouth; his full lips inviting ideas that had only been discussed with her two best friends during sleepovers.

He was all lean muscles and tailored clothes, but it was the charisma he exuded that made her feel like a bead of moisture on hot pan. It drew her in like a moth to the obligatory flame; promising to singe her while also promising that it would be worth it.

Bonnie shook herself from her thoughts and finally met his gaze; only to be distracted again when he revealed a dimple in each cheek.

There were plenty of cute guys back home but this…

Nik kept his eyes on her as she stepped away from his grasp, busying her hands with straightening her clothes unnecessarily.

It's a known fact that Nik enjoyed the company of women, seeing them as intricate and potentially dangerous as any job. However, the currently skittish girl standing in front of him brought managed to pull an involuntary smile out of him…if albeit a small one.

She had to be in her late teens or early twenties, he surmised. But a glance at her body—clad simply in fitted black uniform shirt bearing the letters BBG in an intricate logo on her breast and a black pencil skirt that highlighted a small waist and beautifully flaring hips; while revealing the shapely lines of her legs—put a library's worth of ideas into his head.

Ideas that would surely send some overprotective father running with his shotgun in hand.

But it was her eyes that caught him and made him drown out the sound of Lucien confirming their breach of the bank's firewall. They made him ignore the hacker's instructions to leave now while the confusion caused by the blackout still reigned. The fact that the van was now three minutes away from picking him up barely even registered.

Neither did the cardinal rules that one should never linger when casing a place and never do anything that created an impression in anyone's mind.s

But what did register were full, bow-shaped lips that smiled shyly amidst asymmetrical features. Soft golden brown skin that brought an itch to his fingertips. The faint scent of lemongrass that clung to the chocolate brown curls of her hair.

There were plenty of stories written about otherworldly creatures who lured the unsuspecting to their demise-sirens, mermaids and fairies among them. But this one…this one was a witch. She had to be. For despite the nervousness in her mannerism, there was a small glint of not only steel but mischief in her eyes and it warred with her obvious naiveté. And with barely a few words, those eyes had woven a spell that insisted that he not let her step too far away.

"Nik what the hell are you doing?! I'm sixty seconds out!" Lucien hissed in his ear.

"Well, thanks for the save. I'd have fallen flat on my face without you, Mr…?" He heard her ask.

"Nik. My name's Nik."

"Hi Nik. I'm Bonnie," she answered, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Bonnie," he said, as his hand engulfed hers.

"Nice to meet you too," she replied, the warmth of his hand doing nothing to cool the burning in her cheeks.

"Fifteen seconds!"

"Well Bonnie, this line has managed to take up more time than I planned, so I'd better be going." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it.

"Yeah I know. But it was nice meeting you too, Nik. Have a nice day."

"I'm sure you've already guaranteed that, love," he answered before stepping out of line and heading for the sliding doors. He looked back once and found Bonnie peeking her head around in his direction before he strode outside; Lucien's van barely coming to a stop before he climbed in.

"What the hell was that, man?" Lucien demanded as they drove off.

"Nothing," Nik replied tersely, reaching into the glove compartment. He pulled out a pen and small notepad.

He rode in silence as Lucien continued on about the virus he'd used to infect the bank's security system; his pen moving quickly across the notepad. When they finally came to a stop at a red light, Nik rolled down his window and motioned to a woman stopped in the lane next to them.

"Excuse me, love," he began, "have you ever seen this logo?" He held up the notepad, displaying a sketch of the logo he'd spied on Bonnie's shirt.

The woman squinted to get a better look. "Oh yeah…that's from the Bennett Grille." She eyed him appreciatively. "Buy me a drink and I'll tell you where to find it."

At that moment, the light changed and Lucien started driving.

"Raincheck, love." He called after her.

BKBKBKBK

When Nik rode into Mystic Falls for the first time, it was confirmed for him that of course this was the kind of place where Bonnie would have been born and raised.

The idyllic little town milled about as lazily as a junebug, the environment already beginning to shrug off the embrace of winter. The rumble of his motorcycle seemed out of place amidst the relative quiet.

He continued on until he reached the address he sought and made his way up a long winding driveway to a small Bed & Breakfast and parked.

The large pristine farmhouse sat on an acre of land with apple and peach trees speckling the property. His boots thudded heavily as he walked up the front stairs and onto the wraparound porch; a porch swing swaying gently in the midday breeze.

He entered and made his way to the front desk and light struck the bell atop it.

A moment later, a woman wearing a silk caftan in varying shades of blue breezed in.

"Welcome to the Gregory Inn, how can I help you?" There was a bit of a nasally tone to her voice that would have been unpleasant were it not her light southern drawl and the musical lilt in her cadence. She wore several strings of pearls—real ones—around her neck as well as a pearl ring on one of her index fingers.

If he had to guess, he would place her in her late 60s-although the impish twinkle in her light brown eyes said her spirit considered itself a much younger. From the salt and pepper pixie cut atop her head to the deep set laugh lines in her walnut brown skin, Nik knew straight away that this one was a handful. The jewel encrusted brooch she wore bore the name Pearl.

"Hi, I just got into town and was hoping to rent a room for a while," Nik answered.

The woman tilted her head, "A while? Well what's a while?"

"Indefinitely might be better way to put it then," Nik said.

"Well sweetheart I don't do indefinitely. We have a three-month max on lodgings. If you're staying in Mystic Falls longer than three months, then you should probably put down roots…just not in my house."

Nik chuckled, "Alright, I'll be here for three months then."

"A three month stay requires a one month deposit," she warned.

"That's won't be a problem," he answered, reaching for his wallet.

The woman's eyes narrowed as she sized him up. "Standard rate is $120 a night. You're looking at $3600 deposit, and that's not including tax."

Nik nodded as he placed a credit card and his I.D in front of her.

She picked up the Amex black card and eyed it suspiciously before turning her gaze to his I.D.

"Niklaus Mikaelson," she slowly read aloud. "Well ain't that a mouthful…"

"Everyone calls me Nik."

"Well, I'm Pearl Gregory and everyone calls me Ms. Pearl." He watched as her eyes darted back to his I.D. card.

"So what are you doing in town, Nik?" She asked, continuing the transaction.

"I'm meeting an old friend," he answered, signing the receipt where she indicated.

"Really…and how long's it been since you see em last?"

"I'd say it's been about seven years."

"Mmhm," Pearl muttered tersely as she quickly finished putting together his reservation package before placing it in her file. She moved from around the desk and motioned for him to follow her.

"Now we have a small cooking staff so we do provide breakfast every morning between 7 and 10," she began as they ascended the stairs. "We also serve tea at the appropriate time and I have been known to throw together an impromptu cocktail party. The house rules are simple: No drugs, no roughhousing, no loud music all hours of the night, understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Nik agreed as she opened the door to him room and ushered him in

"If you're a smoker, we ask that you do that outside because this place is also an historical landmark and there are still quite a few original features, particularly the wallpaper."

"I don't smoke." He murmured, scanning the room. The country French décor didn't suit him at all, but the bed was king-sized, it had its own bathroom, and there was a small sitting area. Next to a small writing desk was an entertainment center.

"Well good, those things will kill you. Now the rooms are cleaned daily and we do have provide laundry service, but that's at an additional charge. Otherwise you can go down to the Dime n Suds off of Cole Avenue.

Nik walked into the bathroom and inspected the medicine cabinet.

"You've got complimentary toiletries but those won't last but a day or two so you'll want to head down to the Piggly Wiggly on Main St. to stock up," he heard Pearl say.

He was about to exit the bathroom when his eyes landed on the fresh bar of soap resting in a dish on the sink. He picked it up and inhaled; his eyes closing involuntarily in recognition.

"This smells wonderful. Where did you get it?" Nik asked, holding up the soap as he returned to the bedroom.

Pearl folded her arms across her bosom and assessed the man in front of her.

This man popped up out of nowhere, with money to spend, no plans on leaving and bearing the last name of one of her favorite Sunday school students. And now he's asking about a product handmade by the mother of that very same student. It didn't take long for her figure out that this curly haired dimpled devil was Henry Mikaelson's father. The very same father that his mother never spoke of to anyone, as far as she knew.

"You said you're visiting an old friend. Anyone I know? Bearing in mind that this is a small town and there isn't anyone that I don't know…except you."

"Bonnie Bennett…and I suspect she made this soap."

Pearl nodded, "She certainly did. Now how do you know Bonnie?"

Nik had been in enough interrogations to know that the elderly woman had already figured out who he was and was now on a fishing expedition to discover why he was there.

He thinks back on his last conversation with Marcel before leaving prison.

"Now look, Nik. Small towns move at a different pace and operate by different rules. If getting your woman back is the job, then you're gonna need a crew," Marcel explained.

Nik laughed at the idea. "A crew?"

"Yep. And the first thing you'll need are information specialists…also known as old people."

That only made him laugh harder.

"You think I'm bullshitting but I'm not," Marcel insisted. "Old folks are hooked into everything because they know everybody and spend most of their time gossiping about them. Get you some old folks on your side, man."

"She's my ex-wife," he said simply, removing his motorcycle jacket and tossing it onto the bed. The black tank he wore underneath revealed full sleeves of tattoos on his well-muscled arms. He sat on the edge of the bed and clasped his hands between his knees.

Pearl's eyes widened, as they fell on the wedding band he wore on his finger. When Bonnie moved back home after spending two years in Chicago, everyone just assumed she'd gone up there, gotten duped by some loser into surrendering her virtue and came home with nothing but a baby and broken heart to show for it. In fact she never spoke of her time in the city other than to say that she was glad to be home.

But now this man was saying they'd been married. Did Rudy know? If he did he never let on about. Little Bonnie was keeping an ex-husband under wraps. A volcano of questions erupted in Pearl's brain at the discovery.

"She divorced you?" The older woman asked.

"Yes."

"She have a good reason?"

"Yes."

Pearl's eyes narrowed. "Does she still have a good reason?"

Nik prided himself on his ability to read people and the chapter and verse of Bonnie was one he'd committed to memory long ago. She divorced him because he'd abandoned her. It pained him to do it; to shun his wife and son. But when you're staring down the barrel of 25 years to life in a federal prison, the last thing you want to do is drag them along for the ride. He wanted them to live and thrive and he'd made arrangements for them to do so. He just needed her to let go.

He knew his rejection would lead to divorce and he was relieved-in part-the day the papers arrived.

But now…Now that that he was free there was still time. Time to make her understand that hurting her had been akin to tearing off his own limb. Time to tell her that not once had he stopped loving her. That not a day had gone by where the loss of her and their son didn't drive him to pound the walls of his cell until his hands bled. That the first thing he'd done when his personal effects were returned to him was slip the wedding band she'd given him back onto his finger.

"No," he answered quietly. "Not anymore. Never again."

Pearl stood quietly, observing him; for she too prided herself on being able to read people.

"Bonnie owns a shop called Ms. Sheila's Place over on Lockwood Avenue. That's where I got the soap.

Nik was grabbing his jacket and on his feet a second later, when Pearl stopped him.

"Don't ever make me regret telling you that because I've known that girl her whole life and I've known her family even longer than that, understand?"

"I won't," Nik answered, standing again.

"Good. Because I'm also a card carrying member of the Mystic Falls Gun Club, if you get my meaning."

#

When he walked through the front door of Ms. Sheila's Place, he hadn't expected to find Bonnie simply standing there with her back to him, carefully inspecting her wares. The image in his mind of their reunion bore no resemblance to the weight that was carried along the simple greeting he'd given her. Nor did it account for the way her shoulders tensed at the sound of his voice, or the gasp she'd made of his name as if she'd just been struck.

He waited for her to face him, but she held herself still.

"Turn around, little witch," he coaxed softly.

Bonnie steeled herself as her mind tried to recover from the initial shock, the pang from the use of a nickname she hadn't heard in years making it just that much worse. What the hell was he doing here?

When she continued to stand with her back to him, he began to wonder if she meant for him to never see her face again…literally.

Finally, he heard her breathe deeply before she turned to face him.

Though she'd schooled her features to remain impassive, her eyes were hard like diamonds. He felt that hardness start to extend itself outward, hastily building a siege wall between them that she likely never thought she'd need.

"Hello, Nik," she answered quietly.

"How have you been? He asked, stepping forward. "Where's the baby?"

"I'm fine. And he's not a baby, he's a little boy. Little boys tend to be in school this time of day." The mention of Henry made her insides tremble in a blanket of ice. He couldn't be here right now. There was no way he could be here. Maybe she'd inhaled too much mugwort last night while making incense.

Because if he was here right now; if he was here asking about her…about Henry, then there would be more questions. Not just from him but from her father…from her son…from her friends…from everyone. Questions that his prison sentence should have guaranteed she'd never have to answer.

Nik nodded, absorbing her words. "I was hoping that we could go someone and talk."

Talk. He wants to talk. He didn't want to talk during the trial. He didn't want to talk during the sentencing. He didn't want to talk when she wrote and called and tried to visit. He didn't want to talk except to lie to her for two fucking years about who he was and what he'd really been doing. But now…now wants to talk?!

The front door opened at that moment and a tall blonde rushed in.

"Bon, I'm starving let's go and…" she stopped short, having been smacked in the face by the amount of tension in the room. Her eyes darted to Bonnie, the blueness of them filled with an unspoken question:

Are you okay?

Bonnie pursed her lips and nodded. "Caroline, this is Nik. Nik this is my friend Caroline."

Caroline's eyes narrowed, taking the man whose name she never heard before.

"How do you do? And how do you know Bonnie?" Normally she would at least try not to be so blunt, but if this man was the reason why her best friend looked like she wanted to run and let her body catch up with her, then dammit she wanted to know why. Now.

"I'm-"

"He's someone I used to know," Bonnie finished quietly.

The blonde's eyes continued to shift between the two, completely unsatisfied with that answer.

"Care, can we do this tomorrow instead? I've got stuff I need to take care of," Bonnie asked, sighing. He had only been there for ten minutes at most and she suddenly felt so tired.

"Yeah…" Caroline answered hesitantly. "Sure. Lunch is around the same time everyday anyway, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," Nik responded, his eyes never leaving Bonnie.

Caroline reached across the front counter and hugged her friend.

"Call me," she whispered before turning to leave.

Bonnie watched her go before turning back to her ex-husband.

"I need to lock up, but I know a place we can go. Meet me outside and I'll get my truck so you can follow me," she said brusquely before turning away again.

Seeing the obvious end to a conversation that had never actually started, Nik nodded and headed outside.

Minutes later, he saw her behind the wheel of an old pickup truck waving for him to follow her. He rode behind as she drove through town; past the Piggly Wiggly, past Gregory's Inn, past the Dime n Suds and past the large sign on the sign of the road that read:

"Thank you for visiting Mystic Falls! Come back soon!"

A/N: Don't ask me how I got this update out so fast because I swear I don't know LOL. Thank you guys for your interest in this fic. Klaus is gonna have to put in some work if he's gonna get our Bonnie back. I look forward to introducing your guys to my version of the Mystic Falls gang.

Also, I've been catching up on my fic reading (still have tons more to do) and I have to recommend the following Klonnie fics because they're all so different and awesome:

Some Other Way (to tell you you're okay) by Anastasia-G

A Mate for a Throne by Lilac17

A Longing like Despair by the fudge is grumpy.