AN: Thank you for all of the reviews! Sorry updates are taking a while. I'm really busy with school =(

Sleeping Beauty and the Beast

Bonnie was light in his arms as he brought her to the house where he had held Stefan. He set her on the bed and was surprised to feel a sudden coolness hit his arms: like he had grown accustomed to her warmth. Her skin was burning up, her breaths coming out choked coughs as Klaus reached for a purple blossom on the night stand.

Sitting on the bed, he pulled her back into his arms, cradling her head carefully at the neck.

"There, there," he said softly to the unconscious witch, "Poison will be out in no time."

He cradled her carefully on top of him – working at lightning speed although to him time passed slowly. To remedy the spell's effect, that which had been applied in her dreams via the purple blossom had to be applied in the waking world. But with Bonnie nuzzled so warm and carefully in his arms, her hair spilling over his arm and her nape in close proximity to his face – he was tempted to extract the poison another way. Her pulse beat so temptingly below his nose that he even paused to inhale its rhythm for a selfish moment.

Focus.

He reached for the flower and held it over her face, titling her lips to catch its nectar. Crushing the petals, the juice clung to his fingers but refused to drip off.

"Ugh," Klaus said in frustration, shaking his hand and hoping to extract it that way. Nothing moved. And now it was stuck to his skin. He frowned as Bonnie let out a weaker cough than any he had heard thus far.

Alright, he thought, taking a steadying breath as he raising his hand to her lips. He traced the curves with his thumb, trying to deposit the antidote with minimal invasion. She shifted in his arms, but her eyes didn't open and her skin didn't cool.

Klaus raised his hand to his own lips – the same fingers that had been brushing Bonnie's – and tasted the nectar himself. It was there. Why wasn't it working?

He was getting frantic now, watching her cough and suffocate before him. In his arms. Who knew such a powerful witch could be undone so easily? Sometimes it was easy to forget how young and naïve she really was. So trusting.

Licking his lips, Klaus tasted the bitter nectar and blinked rapidly in realization.

How else to wake a sleeping beauty, he smiled wickedly, than with a kiss?

And for the second time, he lightly touched her lips to his.

KBKBKBKB

When Bonnie awoke, she found herself laying in the arms of a sleeping man. No, scratch that – vampire-wolf hybrid. She shot up and out of his heavy arms, gasping for air. Coughing, bending at the waist and instinctively clutching the sheet beside her, she didn't even realize until much afterwards the strong hands that rubbed her back or the low voice that offered soothing sounds.

The room was dark, lit only by a stream of moonlight from a large bay window with curtains drawn. The sliver of light escaped and poured in when the wind blew to kick up the curtains. The sound of the fabric rustling together was the only noise in the room besides her tortured breathing.

"It's a bit like drowning in wolf's bane," Klaus offered. She knew the voice immediately, recognized his strong profile in the moonlight even as her eyes watered uncontrollably. She swiped at her cheek, too panicked to feel the pain of her fingers bruising skin.

"Klaus," she scowled on a strangled breath, but it came out weaker than she intended. She gritted her teeth and tried again: "You tried to kill me."

"Guess that makes us even," Klaus said, his hands dropping away. He crossed them in front of his chest and eyed her with an almost bored expression: "Almost."

Bonnie raised her arms toward him, summoning the strength of her magic, and sent it directly towards him. Aneurysm after aneurysm she commanded. But he made no move to indicate the slightest degree of pain or discomfort. Instead, he smiled.

He smiled.

"Careful," Klaus warned teasingly, "You don't want to wear yourself out."

Bonnie dropped her hands in exhaustion and turned from him in disgust. Instead, she pulled at the sheets on the bed and pulled them up around her. "Where am I?"

"You're safe," Klaus said. "You will remain here for now."

Bonnie merely glared at him. Avoiding answering the question – probably because he thought she would take the first opportunity to leave. It irritated her how arrogant he was knowing she was the only one with the power to kill him dead dead. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what exactly it was that gave him the gall to be so self assured.

"Don't be upset with me," Klaus said, raising an eyebrow up a tick as if he hadn't expected her to be trying to kill him the moment she opened her eyes. "This was your doing."

"What?" Bonnie growled. "You trapped me in some kind of twisted dream."

"I'm not the one who set the field on fire," Klaus reminded her, "And we were having such a lovely time."

"Who told you to set the field on fire?" Klaus frowned. "And we were having such a lovely date."

"I'm sure that was your idea of a date," Bonnie snorted.

"Flowers, secluded location…" Klaus rattled off.

"Kidnap, drugs," Bonnie frowned.

"Goodnight kiss," Klaus said with a sly smile, "Or is it a good morning kiss since it woke you up?"

Bonnie's jaw ticked in anger as she chose to ignore that last revelation: "You drugged me so I couldn't wake up."

"More poison, really," Klaus said, tilting his head as if in thought. "Don't worry, though, it'll be out of your system soon."

"You poisoned me in my dreams?" Bonnie clarified. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, feeling the sluggishness start to creep in on her again.

The curtain shifted and the moon hit his face to reveal a deep frown. "I didn't know you'd set the field on fire," he pointed out, "And trap yourself."

"Right," Bonnie spat, "Clearly my plan was to suffocate on smoke."

"Does it really matter," Klaus pronounced with boredom, "It got you what you wanted."

"And what's that?" Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to say something stupid and arrogant like in bed with me.

"Stefan free," Klaus said, blinking at her like it was obvious.

"Stefan?" Bonnie asked immediately, as if she had forgotten their deal.

"He is at the Boarding House," Klaus said and noticed her visible breath of relief. "His services are no longer required."

"To be clear, I have no intention of being his replacement," Bonnie spat, glaring at the hybrid. He met her gaze and didn't turn away.

"Oh, I assure you, you will be fulfilling duties Stefan would never be acceptable for," he said, patting the bed beside him where she had been lying. "With your magic, of course. But first, you need to rest to recuperate."

"Didn't know you cared," Bonnie said. He glanced down at the spot on his chest where her head had been resting and she couldn't decipher what it might mean. Regretting a missed opportunity to snap her neck? Or missing the feel of her in his arms? Bonnie shuddered – she didn't know which was worse.

"Stefan has been released," Klaus stated again, his voice suddenly more formal and even more devoid of emotion than usual, "in exchange for your loyalty."

"I said I would come willingly," Bonnie said, "I never said anything about loyalty."

Klaus's smile fell immediately and he was silent for a beat longer than she'd expected. Like he was weighing his options. "I will not compel your loyalty," he said at last.

No, Klaus wasn't the kind to compel people to like him, Bonnie realized. That was more Damon's style. Klaus was more the – I'll give you a choice, but if you choose the wrong one, I'll make your death an entertaining one.

"Either way," Bonnie said, speaking loudly in a display of confidence, "I said I would come and I have."

"And you won't be going anywhere." Klaus pronounced.

"Because I said I wouldn't," Bonnie said, grinding her teeth together. The wind kicked up and sent a chill throughout the room. Her body felt heavy, her eye lids ready to droop, but she held her ground.

"Because you can't," Klaus said, making it clear that he didn't trust her with the way he looked at her – like he was staring at her across a poker table, waiting for her to display one of her tells.

"I can," Bonnie said, meeting his eyes.

"You are powerless." Klaus said, smiling slightly as Bonnie's eyes dropped to her hands. "Staying alive in that dream has really worn down your magic."

Bonnie reached up to feel under her nose, but there was no blood. Her exhaustion was completely internal then. Which explained why she was so tired…

"Come," Klaus said, and she saw herself falling onto the bed before she could stop it – as if she had moved on command. Klaus caught her easily, positioning her where she had been with her head on his chest. He tugged on her hair lightly, massaging her scalp with his fingers and Bonnie was too tired to move.

"What's… wrong with me…" Bonnie made a final plea, perhaps to her witchy ancestors.

But Klaus answered instead, his breath hitting her forehead and his voice getting lost in the strands of her tousled hair: "Nothing. Sleep. No harm will come to you."

"No harm…" Bonnie blinked rapidly, trying to hold on to her consciousness.

"I give you my word."

Without the chance for a second thought, Bonnie collapsed into dreamless sleep.

KBKBKBKBKB

When he had killed the inhabitants of the house, he hadn't thought twice about the contents of their fridge. But now that it was morning and Bonnie would be waking up at any second, he felt unfamiliar anxiety about his rusty cooking skills. Sure, he had whipped up a thing or two in his long existence. But living on the run had not exactly given him opportunity or desire to play with human habits.

Like eating.

Nonetheless, he thought he had managed to whip together a delicacy when he knocked lightly on the door to her room. She had come – willingly. The thought had sent a spiral of warmth throughout his chest all night – a night he spent in the master bedroom, as he was, of course, the master. The idea that she wanted to be there was… strange. Even his sister Rebecca had made a show of loyalty based on fear of his retribution and love of his spoiling her with pretty new things (like Stefan). Even as the Ripper, he had to threaten Stefan to get his loyalty.

Now Bonnie… that was a different story altogether. Did she fear his vengeance? No. She was willing to give up her life for the safety of her friends. Did she fear for her friends' lives? Yes, but with a caveat that no other opponent had before: power. She had the power to destroy him or to protect them from him – she just needed the time to grow into it. Which only made winning her loyalty the more tempting and delectable: when she grew into that power, if he had her loyalty, how safe he would be.

And if she chose him…

Klaus' thoughts were interrupted when the witch in question swung the door open, her eyes half closed from the harsh daylight – she was wrapped in a fluffy white robe she had probably pulled from the adjacent bathroom. As if he hadn't already seen her naked bathed in moonlight…

"Klaus," Bonnie said, leaning against the doorframe. She arched a brow at him, eyeing him with boredom.

"I've brought you breakfast," he said, immediately hating the way his voice sounded. To make up for it, he kept his lips from pulling into a smile as she tossed her long hair over a shoulder and stretched her arms, pulling her body into a beautiful, graceful curve. Like a bow's string being pulled taut, waiting for the attack.

"Don't expect me to return the favor," Bonnie said, taking the tray from his hands and retreating into the room.

She didn't close the door behind her, and he took it as an opportunity to join her.

The tray smelled like heaven. Bonnie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the aromas mingle in her lungs before exhaling with a content smile. She let out a small, happy sigh that sparked a smile on Klaus' face that she didn't see – for when she opened her eyes, he was perched on the edge of the bed, his back to her.

"Pancakes," Bonnie said, nudging the food with a fork, "Whipped cream, butter, syrup…" she lifted up a smaller bowl and made a great pretense of examining the contents, "Strawberries, bananas…" she turned to the other plate, "Toast, eggs.." her voice seemed to grow more disapproving as she went on. That didn't seem right, so he turned to glance at her as she finished: "Orange juice and coffee! Who do you think I am, Tyler? I can't eat all this." She shot him a disapproving frown: "You really shouldn't have. Waste not want not."

"A thank you would have sufficed," Klaus frowned.

Bonnie scooped up some of the whipped cream on a spoon, and slid it against her lip. After pausing as if to think, she said: "Thanks for breakfast, roomie."

"Roomie?" Klaus arched a brow at the term.

"Right." Bonnie smiled, something devious dancing in her eyes as she cut a corner of the pancake. She took a sip of the coffee and there it was again – that happy half-sigh. Klaus almost wanted to echo it as he watched her eat. "Roommates. Road trip buddies. As long as you are clear that we're not allies… that I'm not your accomplice, I will stay put."

"The way you speak," Klaus mused, "As if you have a choice… your confidence is…"

"Frustrating," Bonnie tried teasingly as she ate a strawberry. "Irritating. Aggravating. Motive for murder?"

"Endearing," Klaus said. There was something strangely intoxicating about watching a woman eat. Her rhythm as she mixed and mingled flavors was perfect – she didn't miss a beat, she took healthy portions and paused often to savor the tastes in her mouth. Eating to Bonnie was like a festival of tastes, scents and textures: she rarely had the chance for a decent meal these days. But when she was younger – cooking, baking, eating – all her favorite activities.

Bonnie snorted. "Endearing?" she raised her hand and made several items of food levitate in the air, lining them up for her to devour. She paused to look at him with a sly smirk (that she had undoubtedly learned from Damon Salvatore, but looked so much better on her lovely lips) as if to say magic's back, bitch. "I suppose I'll take that over the alternatives. For now."

"Well," Klaus cleared his throat, getting up, "I should take my leave."

"Gone so soon?" Bonnie said, feigning sadness. "I mean, neither of us have tried to kill the other yet."

"I'm afraid so," Klaus said, nodding his goodbye. "Besides, you need to rest if you want to do more than wave food around."

So your magic will be of use to me, Klaus thought.

If I want to kill you, Bonnie thought.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie opened her mouth to welcome magically delivered tidbits of food in between words. When Klaus said nothing, she said: "When will you be back?"

Watching her, Klaus wondered if she did everything as carefully – if she savored every moment the same. Like their kiss. The thought startled the hybrid, and he turned from her. For he knew – he knew – exactly how much she ruminated over her feelings. Especially her hurt feelings. How could he not know? She sent them to him – wanted him to feel them. Only, he didn't feel remorse for it.

"You're not the only one who needs to eat," Klaus reminded her ominously. The smile dropped from her lips.

Turning back to look at her when he reached the door, he felt a sharp thrill rush up his spine as if to confirm what he had always known. He didn't feel remorse for his actions – he felt intrigue, passion and a desire for the witch. A desire for someone to harbor feelings for him as closely. A desire for him to feel such feelings – so deep and unmoving – about something, anything, other than the pain and sadness he carried around.

"And don't bother trying to leave," he added, enjoying the way her jaw ticked in annoyance. "The house has been enchanted. No one leaves without my permission."

"What happened to the whole 'come willingly' bit?" Bonnie said, her eyes as sharp as daggers as they met his.

"Come willingly," Klaus said, "I never said it would be as easy to leave."

But she didn't intend to leave, Bonnie thought as she heard Klaus exit the house. No, Bonnie intended this to be the last place she ever was. She would die here, and she would take the hybrid with her.