Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries or any quotes used/borrowed. Hello, readers! I'm glad you've returned!

Note: Very little Steph in this one, but a lot of Bonnie. Also, I've taken some character liberties when it comes to Finn and Kol; Julie Plec and/or the other TVD writers left quite a bit to be desired, character development wise, or really anything at all with their characters. Finn was killed off pretty quickly and Kol only lasted a bit a longer, so we didn't really get a huge sense for them. So, like I said, I took a couple of liberties in an attempt to round them out a bit.


in the quiet moment when the earth holds still

"This is it, boys, this is war - what are we waiting for?
Why don't we break the rules already?"

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Bonnie Bennett walked in on one of the oddest things she'd ever seen in her life; the Boarding House was full to the brim of activity, which wasn't all that unusual, but it was the people that made all the difference. Damon, Elena, and Jeremy were the usual suspects, generally with Alaric (who was strangely absent), but with them that day was also Lexi, who was now a fixture in the house as well, along with Finn and Kol Mikaelson. Despite the fact that she had been expecting them really didn't help at all, for the sight was so . . . unfamiliar.

"Miss Bennett," Finn addressed her formally, with a slight inclination of his head, "I am obliged that you could arrive as soon as you did. We would like to commence planning the next stage, if you would join us." Bonnie saw Damon roll his eyes, and Jeremy cross his arms, and Lexi smirk.

"Where's Caroline? And Matt?" And Tyler, Bonnie's mind supplied, but she already knew the answer to that last one; Tyler could not be trusted with something like this. The night of the Homecoming party had proved that.

Elena came to her rescue, "Matt's on a date with a resurrected Anna," She shrugged, odded out by that sudden relationship as the rest of their group of friends was. "And Caroline should be on her way over, I think. Come in and sit down."

Bonnie picked her way over and found that Kol's gaze followed her around the room. She turned her head once to glance at him, and he looked back with his mischievous, dark eyes and winked.

"Hello sweetheart," He leered and waved a hand to the cushion chair in front of him. "Care for a chair?"

"Not with you," Bonnie muttered and moved to sit next to Elena, who was in the love seat. Damon was pacing over by the bottles of bourbon and other alcoholic beverages that Bonnie wouldn't be able to name if her life depended on it (for Damon's alcohol collection was vast and legendary).

"Thank you for coming," Finn repeated in less formal speech, nodding again, "Your presence is greatly appreciated."

"Yes, yes, we all love witches, celebrate them and respect them, blah blah blah," Damon waved a hand, clearly irritated and annoyed. He swished his drink in his tumbler. "Let's keep calm and carry on, yes?"

"Just because you're an asshole who –" Bonnie started to snap, but was stopped by the loud arrival of Caroline.

"Don't stop on my account," The perky blond smiled, open-mouthed, "I'm sure Damon's done something to deserve it today."

"What crawled up and died in you today, Barbie?" Damon snapped angrily.

"Well, considering every other attempt to kill Klaus or otherwise save Steph has failed, excuse me for being less than optimistic," Caroline shot back, surprisingly acerbically.

"We didn't have Originals to help us before," Elena soothed.

"No, we only had the Original Daddy, who was the best of the best of badasses," Caroline snapped.

"Caroline," Bonnie protested and all at once the blonde deflated and it was like she was a puppet whose strings were cut; she collapsed on the love seat on Bonnie's other side.

"Sorry," She waved a hand at an emotionless Finn, "carry on."

"No, do continue," Kol smirked, entirely amused. He was the picture of sanguinity as he sprawled out on the chair he'd previously offered to Bonnie, his eyes lidded heavily and his boots were kicked off and sitting perfectly by the fireplace. Bonnie could even see a white ear bud hanging out of the pocket of his blue jeans, along with the tip of a solid white iPhone. Clearly someone had educated him very quickly about the twenty-first century.

"Kol," Finn reprimanded, but his brother only rolled his eyes.

"Let's get a move on then," Kol said cheerily, "I want Klaus six feet under by midmorning tomorrow if at possible. I've already decided to put him in my coffin; it'll be like my house warming present to him. Only I'll be presenting him with my previous house, instead." His smile was shark like and biting.

Bonnie cleared her throat and drew the attention of the rest of the house solely onto her. "We need to figure out a way to keep Klaus locked into the coffin for good. What's to keep Rebekah or Elijah from simply getting their witch to open it back up whenever she wants to?"

"Bribe the witch?" Jeremy suggested.

"I'm sure Klaus has more than just Faye Chamberlain just a phone call away," Damon shook his head, grimacing. "We have to assume that either he or Rebekah or Elijah have backups besides Faye."

"So how do we make this spell unbreakable?" Elena wondered, "How do we make it so that no one but Bonnie can open it back up?"

"We cannot." Finn stated in his monotone voice. "A single witch cannot make a spell that would keep all others from penetrating it; it is neigh impossible. You need a familial bond or a coven to do what you're suggesting."

"Or you need a bit of grey magic," Kol said from his place on the couch, a wicked smile on his face, "Any witch can do this. Well . . ."

Finn spun and glared. "What you are speaking off is dark and dangerous, and you are not introducing the Bennett witch to it. That is final."

The rest of their group looked at each other warily, and Damon shot off his mouth, curious, "What kind of magic are you talking about here?"

"Nothing," Finn said shortly, "that is of your concern because we will not endanger Bonnie Bennett's life with it."

Caroline and Elena exchanged glances.

Bonnie sat a little straighter, curious now. "What is it?" Finn licked his lips and looked about to refuse them again, but Kol interrupted.

"It's called Expression," Kol explained and he sat up and forwards, looking as eager and excited as any of them had ever seen him. "It's a form of sorcery that most witches call worse than black magic, but it gets the job done and is magnificent-"

Damon twitched. Expression? It sounded a little familiar . . .

"And it is also highly dangerous!" Finn's voice was brittle and the entire room lapsed into silence beneath his glare that was aimed at his youngest brother. "You should know that, Kol, or have you forgotten?"

Bonnie's curiosity was piqued, and so was everyone else's at this point. "Just explain what it is," She said evenly, "If it's as dark as you make it out to be, we would never use it anyway." Behind her back, Bonnie discreetly crossed her fingers in a childish act of defiance.

Finn nearly growled, but explained it them nonetheless, resigned, "Expression is worse than black magic. In fact, many witches don't even call it magic. It is a form of extremely dark and powerful sorcery that draws on malicious powers that are so evil it is said to be able to demolish the world if it were ever called into existence."

Lexi asked a question that they were wondering. "How do you know so much about witches? I wouldn't think your mother would teach you about that. You've been in a coffin for a century," She pointed at Kol, and then to Finn, "but you've been in one for eight times that."

Finn seemed guarded, but Kol seemed one to throw all caution to the wind. "Mother wasn't the only witch the family. It seemed that only 'Lijah, Klaus, and Henrik, along with Father, were the only ones that weren't."

They let that sink in.

"But as soon as you turned into vampires . . ." Bonnie started, "Your connection to the earth was severed and Finn, Rebekah, and you couldn't be witches anymore." Expression sounded dangerous, but from the way Finn and Kol talked about it, it seemed that they were quite intimate with the dark force.

"So, what?" Damon was clearly of the same mind, and drawled, "You guys got tired of Mummy's boring Hogwarts classes and decided to find something more fun to do? Got hooked on this expression stuff?"

Finn shook his head only once, but it was firm enough to disprove any working theories many of them might have been forming.

"There was a bit of rag tag coven," Kol explained, "close to our village. Well," he amended with a shrug, "it was actually deep in the forest, but we were able to find it okay enough by accident."

"The group there was . . . eccentric," Finn appeared reluctant to continue explaining, but continue he did. Bonnie thought it was most likely he did so to shut Kol up. "They all relied on the ley lines that ran beneath the earth to focus their magic, and their coven was more of a community; they probably had anywhere between twenty and thirty members at any given time."

"They wanted more power though," Kol was facing Bonnie intimately now, his dark eyes excited and entrancing. "They couldn't get enough. We were on a hunting trip when Finn and I stumbled upon them in the forest. They were just as likely to wipe our memories as they were to let us go, but they were pretty excited when they found out we were witches."

"Why?" Elena asked, frowning.

"More witches equals more power," Kol smirked, "We introduced Rebekah, but kept it from our mother."

"Even straight laced Finn?" Damon asked sardonically.

Finn glowered, but Kol only laughed. "So after a bit, after we'd come and gone for weeks, when they were sure they could trust us, they started to show us some tricks. Eventually, they mentioned Expression."

"They wanted to attain it and hoped that we could help them," Finn explained darkly. Kol's demeanor changed a little then, to everyone but his brother's surprise.

"Yes, yes, there's one catch about this particular parlor trick," Kol said, twisting his lips into a frown, "They told us about a man called Silas; according to him, when twelve humans are murdered, the earth is marked with power. When a witch taps into the magical energy that is left behind, it allows them to use it for Expression."

"They wanted us to lead them to our village, where they could massacre twelve people to connect them – and us – with Expression. We refused," Finn finished, crossing his arms, "So you see, Expression is dangerous and dark and not to be trifled with."

Bonnie was horrified at even the thought of murder, but the idea of witches willing to kill twelve people for the sake of magic was ghastly. She glared at Kol. "So you thought it was wise to suggest something to us that even you wouldn't do when you were human?"

"But see, I was a human then," Kol smirked and leaned forwards to match Bonnie. "I don't really care anymore, to be honest."

"Then it's a good thing that vampires can't have magic," Bonnie hissed angrily.

Kol's eyes shuttered once, but then cleared. He waved a hand and the bravado was back as if it had never left. "I just figure you'd want a permanent way to lock up Klaus until your natural life ended, that's all. Expression could do that; it isn't monitored by the spirits of nature and therefore its power is potentially limitless." Bonnie froze at the tidbit at the end. Limitless magic that wasn't monitored by the spirits sounded enticing, even if she didn't particularly know why.

"But it is not the only thing that can get the job done," Finn said forcefully, his face tight with tension, "Like I said before, a familial bond or a coven would work to keep Klaus contained for the foreseeable future." Bonnie could tell that there was something the brothers weren't telling them, but she figured that if it was particularly important, they would either share or she could find a way to figure it out later.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, Bonnie has neither a coven nor a live family member at the moment," Damon said acidly, "So unless we want Judgy to become a mass murderer – which is out, to be clear – we're back to square one of not knowing how to keep Faye or any other witch from digging Klaus back up."

Bonnie winced at the mention of her Grams' death.

"Magic is passed down," Kol persuaded, "Surely one of your parents has magic."

"My mom," Bonnie said coolly, meeting Kol's eyes.

"Fantastic," Kol grinned.

"– but she abandoned us when I was young, so she's out of the question."

"Do a tracking spell," Kol said, rapid-fire, "You could find her quickly – "

"And do what?" Bonnie stood, hands clenched at her sides, "Do what? Ask her to help me do magic, the thing that drove her away?"

Kol stood as well, and heatedly said, "Tell her that you're taking down a monster that would ravage the world's cities."

"What makes you think that we'll stop with Klaus?" Bonnie hissed under her breath lowly. "What makes you think I won't take you down next? You're just as awful as him."

Kol only placed that infuriating smirk back onto his face. "Because."

"Because?"

He didn't say anything, only shrugging. Bonnie nearly shrieked from frustration and Finn called order back to things, and got them all onto the original track. While he was talking to Damon and the others, Bonnie's phone vibrated with a text from an unknown number.

Because you really do want to learn Expression. And I could help you.

Bonnie's eyes snapped up to Kol's innocent but hopeful face and she very deliberately deleted the text. He only shrugged, so sure of Bonnie eventually agreeing that he would take whatever she threw at him.

Bonnie tried to drag her attention back to the meeting, but she couldn't help but wonder at the gnawing questions that Kol had presented her with; did she really want Expression? What would she even do with it? Help her friends help her family help everyone But the big question, Bonnie knew, was what did Kol Mikaelson gain from getting Bonnie to do Expression? Bonnie shut down that line of questions because she refused, absolutely refused to even entertain the idea of murdering twelve innocents for her own personal gain.

"Alright, so we need you to perform a tracking spell . . ."

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Elena stood at the fringes of their group with Damon, arms crossed tightly around her middle with her eyes riveted to Bonnie's form in the center of the living room. Her friend was sitting in a ring of brightly lit candles, eyes closed and her mouth moving quickly with murmured Latin. Bonnie was clutching a sweater in her mocha hands, wringing it either unconsciously or with anxiety.

Elena would understand if it was the latter; the idea of seeing your mother after she abandoned you when you were young . . . well, Elena had been through that. Adoption wasn't quite the same as abandonment, and Elena was still unsure at points if Isobel had ever thought her daughter was more than a means to an end. Bonnie's mother had loved her, Elena knew. Still loved her.

Elena's eyes wandered.

Lexi was sitting next to Caroline, both blonde with pin straight hair that afternoon. They were speaking quietly to each other but Elena could make out Tyler's name a few times, along with the sire bond. She turned away from them, and looked at the Originals, Kol and Finn.

The brothers were as different as could be, with the only real resemblance between them being their dark hair and brown eyes. Otherwise, their sense of style, their attitudes and personality, even their physical stances were different; Finn was conservative and in the closest thing he could be to a suit, and was stiff and barely seemed to emote. Kol was his polar opposite; his body was languid like water, taking up space despite the fact he was lean man (teenager? Elena couldn't tell). His smiles were easily given, and he was in casual clothing, in jeans and boots. Neither noticed her watching, despite her intent gaze; both were focused on Bonnie, though their intent was vastly different. Finn watched with professional interest, while Kol's was . . . interest, hunger. Desire.

Elena frowned. She didn't want Bonnie to have to get tangled in some kind of weird thing with Kol, but she figured that the witch could hold her own.

Finally, Elena's gaze was drawn to her baby brother and the spot next to him that Alaric would usually occupy. He was watching Bonnie like everyone else was, tense and sitting on the edge of his seat. He was clearly ready for life to go back to normal, but Elena wondered, what was normal? Life back when their biggest problem had been Katherine? Or when there had been no problems at all?

Or maybe when their parents were still around to protect them from all this supernatural stuff.

The sight of the Tyler Lockwood's car careening through the front door and into the foyer still flashed before Elena's eyes; the previous night she'd had nightmares. She kept seeing Alaric's still body and Jeremy's pale one. Both dead. Both gone permanently.

Elena didn't want her brother to be in any more danger. Not because of her, or their friends, or the Salvatores. She never wanted Klaus to be the cause of any more of Jeremy's pain.

There was only one way to do that, Elena knew.

Damon's cool hand touched her hip and then his arm was around her waist. "What's the matter?" His lips were ghosting over the shell of her ear and she held back a shiver at his icy breath.

"Come with me," She whispered quietly, and so they glided from the room without anyone truly paying them any attention, and led Damon back to the far end of the house where no prying ears would be able to pick up their conversation. Elena stood straight backed and firm, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

Damon picked up on the sudden change in atmosphere, so he tried to gently tease her, "The witchy mojo getting to you?"

Elena tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and then put it back. Looked at the ground. Took a deep breath, and then decided to be blunt. She looked into Damon's magnetic eyes and told him what she'd been pondering over for the last twenty four hours. "I want you to compel Jeremy."

Damon arched a brow in what only those close to him would understand as surprise. "To do what, exactly? Juggle? Have better life skills? He burned spaghetti the other day, you know-"

"I want you to compel him to go and stay with our relatives in Denver," Elena continued, pushing past Damon's chatter, "It's not safe here for him. Not anymore." She painfully pushed passed the memories of her parents, her Aunt Jenna, and Isobel and John. She wouldn't let Jeremy be hurt like they had.

Damon regarded her seriously and put his hands onto her shoulders. "It's never been safe here, Elena. He knows that. He doesn't care."

"Well, I do!" Elena hissed and protective anger bubbled in her chest. She threw off his arms, "He's my brother and I love him! And our parents aren't here to watch out for him, and Jenna's not here to tell not to do drugs, and Alaric's great, but he's not our father. I have to look after Jeremy. I have to protect him. And right now, he's needs protection from Klaus and Stephanie and this town. To do that, he needs to leave and be safe. Be happy in Denver – make friends, get good grades! Draw!"

Damon made an unhappy noise, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"But it's my brother and my family, Damon," Elena said firmly, never breaking eye contact with her boyfriend. "You'd want to protect Stephanie, if you could. You want to protect her from Klaus. You have to understand this."

Damon frowned and Elena watched the conflict behind his eyes, but then he nodded. "Whatever you think is best. Because he's your brother and it's your right to make that decision. But I want you to know that I know this is going to come back bite you in the ass."

"That's the future," Elena swallowed, "Right here, right now in the present, it's for the best."

Damon sighed and Elena saw him clearly fight the urge to roll his eyes. "When-" His phone chirped and he quickly looked down at the text messages. "It's Rick," He looked back up and seeing Elena's worried look, elaborated, "There's a Council meeting and I think I should head over. Might be important." Damon took a step forwards and kissed Elena slowly and then stepped back.

"Maybe you should think about this a bit more while I'm gone," Damon suggested.

"I won't change my mind." She was determined. No one would change her mind.

"At least you'll think about it," Damon hedged and then gave another quick good-bye. "Don't let the others get Klaus without me."

Elena watched him slide passed the others in the living room and forwent his car, turning into a blur as he raced to meet Rick.

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"You look like shit," Damon greeted Alaric, five minutes later, taking in the shadows beneath Alaric's eyes. They stood together in front of Mayor Lockwood's house, each observing the other.

"Thanks," Rick said wryly, "Just what I wanted to hear." He turned to look at the Mayor's house for a moment and then turned to look at Damon. "Why can't a Council meeting ever just be a Council meeting? I mean, this is some kind of fundraiser too."

Damon shook his head. "Preaching to the choir, Rick." His mind went back to a determined looking Elena back his house and he tried to brush the conversation away for the moment; Damon didn't want to think about it all night.

He and Alaric walked in together, side by side, and found that the place was packed to capacity. They all wore evening dresses and suits and the men realized that they were terribly under dressed, not that they cared over too much. They made their way through the crowd and saw a large model of part of the town, a part that Damon knew almost intimately.

"That's the bridge where Elena and Jeremy's parents died," He told Alaric as they came to a stop in front of it.

"They're rebuilding it," Alaric observed quietly. They stood awkwardly, and Rick's hand went back to rub the nape of his nape, uncomfortable.

"Yeah . . ." Damon frowned and snatched a tumbler off of a passing tray, shooting it back. He clapped Rick on the shoulder. "I'm going to find the host, write a check, and then we're out, okay? There's something brewing at the house that I'd like you to be in on."

"Sounds good to me," Alaric murmured and then watched as Damon disappeared into the throng of tightly packed people. He continued to gaze at the model of Wickery Bridge with his hands folded behind his back.

"Alaric Saltzman; the miracle patient," A light and feminine voice said behind him, and Rick looked up to see Dr. Fell.

"Dr. Fell," He smiled genuinely at her.

"Glad to see you're still alive," She said wryly, "I'd thought perhaps you'd died in your sleep."

"Yeah, well, I guess I have nine lives," Alaric grinned sheepishly and shuffled his feet. He almost felt like he was in high school again, with a schoolyard crush. Meredith Fell was truly a beautiful, kind, headstrong woman –

"Sounds like a good thing to have in a town full of vampires."

Cue all of Alaric's dreams crashing and burning on the ground. His face fell and he looked at her suspiciously. In a very hushed voice, he quickly asked her, "I'm sorry. Are you on the Founder's Council?"

Dr. Meredith Fell nodded, still smiling softly, and indulged Alaric's wish to talk quietly, "I'm a Fell; I come from a long line in the Founder's, may they rest in peace." She turned and stared at the model while Alaric stared at her dark curls. She was pale with full red lips – suddenly she turned and looked at him. "I hate that bridge. My senior prom date dumped me on this bridge." He was jarred from his thoughts.

The atmosphere lightened. "Oh yeah? Did you throw him over it?"

"No," She laughed, "but I should have. I've been holding a grudge ever since." Alaric joined her laughter and they smiled winningly at each other. Rick felt a sense of happiness that he hadn't felt since – Isobel. Some of his cheer deflated, but he kept his smile. Meredith continued, "Where'd your friend go? I was supposed to hit him up for some money for the fundraiser."

"Oh, you should," Alaric assured her, "He's loaded."

"He's in good company," Meredith said humorously, "Some British guy just pledged to match every dollar we raised tonight."

Alaric felt ice in the pit of his stomach and when Meredith's face fell, realized that his anger and apprehension must have shown on his face. "What do you mean British guy?"


Bonnie's eyes flew open and she felt her breath taken away from her from there mere sight, even if it was only in her head, of her mother for the first time in years.

"Well?" Kol drawled and his eyes sharp.

Caroline shoved passed him and knelt down by Bonnie's side, taking one of her hands into her own. "Are you okay?"

"I – I found her," Bonnie's voice surprised herself, as it was quiet and breathy, "I saw her. She's been living in a farmhouse; with – with another teenager. He's like her son." Tears gathered into her eyes at the admission and she angrily wiped them away. "She's got a replacement kid."

"Oh, Bonnie," Caroline sighed and pulled the witch into her embrace. "Bonnie."

Bonnie let her, burying her face into her friend's neck and blonde curls. Elena came to sit on Bonnie's other side, wrapping her arms around the witch tightly. A heavy hand rested on Bonnie's shoulder and she didn't have to look up to know that it was Jeremy. She heard some shuffling and complaints from Kol, but eventually the Originals stepped out of the room and Lexi had dropped onto the floor on Caroline's other side, quiet as a mouse.

"Should we find another way to do this?" Elena gently asked, "You don't have to see your mom."

"I do," Bonnie said, a little drained, but determined. "I have to put Klaus away. If seeing my mother is the only way to do it, I'll do it." But it wasn't the only way; Kol's mention of Expression lingered in the back of her mind, but she quickly brushed it away. She'd rather see her mother than murder twelve people. She'd have to be strong.

"Then let's do it," Caroline said a little grimly. "Let's go find your mother."


Damon watched Klaus and Stephanie talk with Carol Lockwood for several minutes before he decided to go over there and join them. "Look what the cat dragged in," He drawled, icy blue eyes taking in Stephanie's low cut shirt. "Cover up, Sis; you never know what trash you'll attract in that."

Her answering smile was all venom and pointed teeth. "Find someone else to parent, Damon, because I'm not interested in your sorry attempts to baby-sit me."

"Carol and I were just discussing if you would be tonight's other benefactor," Klaus smoothly interrupted with a lazy grin. His hand was possessively lying on the small of Steph's back, which she seemed very comfortable with. Damon was slightly revolted and his own hand twitched with the desire to deck the smug Hybrid's grin off of his face. Elena's words about protecting their siblings from barely an hour ago came back to him. He tried to shrug the thought off, but wasn't quite successful.

"What do you say, Damon?" Carol asked professionally, "Klaus has made a very generous pledge, and you know how we're chomping at the bit to start the renovation." Her expression was tense, though, and she was clearly anticipating the need to diffuse the tension from the three supernaturals in her midst.

"Carol." Damon smiled winningly, "Don't take this the wrong way, but do you realize that you've been kissing ass to the immortal hybrid that ruined your son's life."

Before Carol could comment, Klaus snapped back with a curled lip, "Oh, come now. Some might say that I saved it, what with the nasty full moon bit," He turned away from Damon and looked fully at Carol, his face and tone of voice completely compassionate, "I've only ever gone through it twice myself before, but I'm very sympathetic."

Unbelievably, Carol nodded with a tight smile. She turned back to Damon with a disapproving look. "Klaus has agreed to protect Tyler and our town, Damon. Don't let your feelings surrounding any past dealings you've had with Klaus, or your sister's relationship cloud your judgment here."

Damon gaped for a split second and saw that Stephanie was highly amused, her lips curled into a laughing grin. He glowered at her, and deciding to not even address the relationship thing, and then snapped at Carol, "Protection from what, exactly?"

"Anything and everything that threatens this town, Damon," Klaus said slickly.

"The only thing threatening this town is you and your family," Damon shot back, his brows in his hairline. "And I thought you were skedaddling from Mystic Falls as soon as possible?"

"Plans change," Klaus tilted his head, smiling, "The town is starting to grow on me again, to be honest."

"Nik's right, you know." Damon turned his head and saw Rebekah in a slinky midnight blue dress behind him, with the surprising addition of Faye Chamberlain. Rebekah smiled prettily at him. "This was our home first." Faye was in a body hugging red number, her wild dark hair around her shoulders. Her golden eyes were flashing with pleasure and her fingers brushing against Rebekah's ever so slightly. Damon arched a brow.

"Well, you vanish for a thousand years and things kind of go native," Damon snarked back to her, filing away the information about the two women in the back his mind for later. "If you're going to establish a place to live, it's kind of necessary to stick around to insure its upkeep."

"As enlightening and intellectually stimulating as this conversation is," Steph arched one dark, thin brow, and with one look, Damon could tell how unintellectual she actually thought it was, "I felt the need to interrupt to ask where your darling Elena is tonight. She's usually in the thick of things and it makes one worry when she's not in sight."

"At home, snug as a bug in rug," Damon grinned, all teeth, "Not that it's any of your business. Sister."

"Of course it is," Stephanie smirked, "She is one of my best friends, after all."

"Was," Damon corrected, "She wants nothing to do with you now."

"Ouch," Steph said wryly, "That burned."

"Want some ice?" Damon offered.

"Only if it's from the wall around your heart."

The Salvatore's shared a look of partial appreciation for bad insults and stung pride. Klaus decided to break them up.

"Come with me for meal, won't you love?" And Stephanie was easily distracted from her brother with the thought of blood put into her head and soon they were skiving off together, hip to hip as they prowled for innocents to drain the life out of that evening.

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.

Alaric couldn't find Damon and on one of his circuits around the mansion, found Meredith arguing with a tall man. He was thin and had a shock of brown hair on his head, and he was standing threateningly over the slight doctor. Rick started in their direction, overhearing their conversation.

"What are you doing? You're throwing your career away."

"Says the guy who got his job from his father," Meredith snapped.

"Do you even know what you're messing with here?" The guy asked scathingly.

"I don't what I'm doing," She said shortly and skirted around him. The guy didn't get the hint though, and grabbed for her. "Get off of me! Damn it, Bryan."

"Hey, hey, hey," Alaric slid between them, "Everything alright here?"

"Everything's fine," Bryan retorted.

Alaric tilted his head. "Didn't look fine from where I was standing."

Unbelievably, Bryan snorted laughter. "You might want to get to know her before you become her white knight." When Rick still looked unconvinced, Bryan added, "She's kind of a psycho-case."

Alaric laughed. "Oh, you're that guy, aren't you?" Still chuckling darkly, Rick continued, "The one asking to have his teeth kicked in."

Bryan only blinked. "Take it from me, man. Life's too short."

Meredith regarded him with angry eyes. "Just go away, Bryan." The other merely shrugged and turned, leaving the two alone. Meredith sighed softly and waved a hand. "Behold: my senior prom date." She shook her head.

"Oh, you definitely should have thrown him over the bridge," Rick sniggered.

"I almost wish I had," Meredith looked worn, "I have to work with him; he's on the Council and the medical team. He's the guy that signs his name under cause of death, animal death."

"I get it," Alaric nodded knowingly.

"Yeah," Meredith agreed and her phone buzzed. "Duty calls. Thanks for the hero moment."

"Any time," Alaric smiled and then his gaze followed Bryan's trail out of the mansion. Meredith's phone bleeped loudly and she looked down, frowning. Alaric drew his brows together. "Something wrong?"

"They need me at the hospital," Meredith murmured quietly and then looked back up. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go; it's an emergency."

"By all means, go save the day," Alaric smiled genuinely and Meredith laughed.

"I'll try. Have a nice evening, Alaric." The beautiful doctor disappeared just as Damon reappeared.

"It's the creepy doctor," Damon mused right in Rick's ear, making the hunter frown and jerk away.

"She's not creepy," He defended quickly.

"Yeah, yeah," Damon waved a hand, "Ready to go?"

"I was looking for you earlier. I think Klaus is here," Alaric told him, lips thinning, "We need to find him."

"Been there and done that; ready to move on," Damon said impatiently, "He's been kissing ass to Carol with Steph on his elbow and Rebekah and Faye in toe. I say let's get the hell out of dodge because we've got something up our sleeves to take care of that problem."

"I've actually got something to do," Alaric murmured, distracted. His eyes were trained on the door that Bryan had gone out of. "I'll come over later."

He started off, leaving Damon standing around, puzzled.


Everything was planned out by the time Damon got home, but it was also almost sun set. Bonnie had quickly left to find her mother with Lexi in toe, the only one that didn't have any obligations to school or competitions or committees. They'd left immediately.

Finn and Kol had then left soon thereafter, heading to the "Original Mansion", for their presence would also be missed and be extremely suspicious. That had left Elena, Jeremy, and Caroline there by themselves until Caroline left for the night.

When Damon finally came through the door, Elena nearly sprang from her seat. They exchanged glances and when he arched a brow, Elena only nodded her head once. Briskly, Damon called Jeremy over, and the two Gilberts followed the vampire outside in the cooling air.

"What's going on?" Jeremy's hands were shoved deeply into his pockets, his face pinched. "Did you find Alaric?"

Damon waved a hand, "Yeah, he and I went to a quick Council meeting where we found out that Klaus has Carol in his pocket." He grimaced.

At the new revelation, both Gilbert's looked up, surprised. "How?"

"Fed her some crap about saving Tyler and keeping the town safe," Damon said blithely, "but that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Then what?" Jeremy asked. "Did something else happen?"

Elena stepped over to her brother and gently took the vervain bracelet off of his wrist and slipped her hand into his. "Jeremy, I've asked Damon to protect you."

Jeremy didn't quite realize what she meant yet. "What?"

"I'm going to compel you," Damon explained quietly, his eyes tired.

"What?" Jeremy repeated and then jerked out of Elena's hold, "No!"

"Stop struggling and stand still," Damon caught Jeremy's gaze and the teenage boy slowed, entranced and within Damon's mental grasp. The vampire shot his girlfriend one last glance. "Last chance to say no, Elena."

"Do it."

"You're going to go away for a while . . ."


The drive was a long, silent and slightly awkward one, and it took them all night and they didn't arrive until morning. The sun was blinding and the temperature warm, which would have been nice except for the burning pit of anxiety in Bonnie's stomach.

The farmhouse was beautiful; two stories and the property extended all around them. On the far side of the house was a large open garage, which looked to have been transformed from an actual barn. There was a loud electrical sound coming from that direction, so Bonnie and Lexi exchanged glances and knew that that was probably where the teenager was.

Bonnie headed towards the front door.

"Do you remember her at all?" Lexi asked quietly as they stepped up the porch steps together.

"A bit," Bonnie muttered and paused at the door. She turned to Lexi. "Why don't you wait out in the car? I don't want my mother to freak out because I'm hanging out with a vampire."

The blonde only shrugged. "It's your mother and your life. I'll be out here." And she so turned back around and leaned on the car, settling there with ear buds in her ears and a phone to mess around with while she waited.

Bonnie turned back and raised her hand to ring the bell.

"Can I help you?" Bonnie turned her head and saw the boy, the teenager who her mother had replaced her with.

Stiffly, Bonnie said, "I'm here looking for Abby Bennett."

"She's not home," The guy said, tilting his head suspiciously. He dusted off his hands. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I can come back," Bonnie said, still hesitant about approaching her mother. Her mind flashed to Klaus again and she forced herself to stand still. "But now would be preferable."

"You look really familiar," The guy put his hand to his face and he smiled a little.

"Abby is my mother," Bonnie met the guy's gaze. "And I need to speak with her urgently."

The guy was shocked, but he managed to recover a little. "I'm Jamie. Um, do you and your friend," His eyes shot to Lexi, "want to come in and wait?"

Lexi looked up and Bonnie sighed and nodded.

"Alright."

Jamie led them in and settled them in at the kitchen table. They politely refused anything to eat or drink and Bonnie didn't meet Jamie's eyes.

"So, are you and Bonnie related or do you just help out?" Lexi asked bluntly and Bonnie shot her a horrified look.

Jamie quirked the side of his mouth up, and replied, "Nah. Abby just dated my father a while bag, but he's a deadbeat, so when they split up she kind of started to take care of me."

The door opened and closed and Bonnie heard her mother's so familiar, yet so different voice, asking who was there.

"It's me," Bonnie cleared her throat, "Bonnie, your daughter."

Abby came into view and Bonnie's heart stuttered in her chest.

"Bonnie," Abby breathed.


Damon and Elena saw Jeremy off mid-afternoon from the Gilbert house, and Elena had to keep herself from crying as he drove away in his car to the airport. They stood in the porch long after he left.

"He'll be find," Damon murmured quietly, "Just like you wanted. Everything will be just fine."

"I know," Elena nodded almost to herself and folded her arms across her chest.

Damon's phone rang, breaking the heavy silence, and he picked it up. "Hello?"

"We have a problem." It was Sheriff Forbes.

"Now's not a great time," Damon muttered, eyeing Elena out of the corner of his eye.

"There's been another murder; a hiker called it in and my guys got there first."

"Another hybrid?" Damon asked lowly.

"That's what I thought at first . . . but it doesn't fit. The man was Bryan Walters, the medical examiner. He's the one who signed off on all of the 'animal attacks'," Liz continued.

"What happened to him?" Damon asked, "If it wasn't a hybrid . . ."

"There's a stake sticking out of his chest, but he was no vampire. This was a murder; a regular one."

Damon's eyes widened. "That's a problem."

"Yes. It is. I'm going to start the investigation soon and I thought you might know something; Walters was Dr. Fell's ex-boyfriend. And Alaric Saltzman was seen talking and being extremely friendly with Dr. Fell last night at the Council banquet," Liz's voice was grim.

"What?" Damon asked incredulously and Elena's attention was finally captured. "Rick would never."

"He was seen having an argument with Walters earlier that evening," Liz explained further, voice tired. Elena's phone went off a second later, and she disappeared into her house to take it.

"I don't care," Damon said flatly, "Rick wouldn't kill someone."

"I'm just saying that he's under suspicion," Liz said firmly. The Gilbert house door opened again and Elena popped out and indicated she needed to speak with him.

"Let me call you back later," Damon said, "and I'll clear things up with Rick as soon as things are squared away where I'm at."

"What do you mean? Damon-"

Damon hung up and turned to Elena. "Well?"

"That was Bonnie; they're on their way back now and defying speed limits," Elena explained, "And they have Abby. But as of right now, she's not able to do magic."

"What? Why?" Damon demanded.

Grimly, Elena explained, "Apparently, Mikael came to Mystic Falls fifteen years ago, searching for the doppelgänger. Abby led him away and used a desiccation spell to put him down, but it drained away all of her magic."

"So how is she supposed to help us?" Damon threw his hands up, "We need either a familial bond or a coven, or else Bonnie has to use Expression, which would be a Really Bad Thing."

"Well, her magic didn't really disappear until she left Bonnie, so they have this theory that maybe after she comes home and is around her daughter, it'll come back," Elena explained.

"How long will it take?" Damon scowled. This close!

Elena shrugged helplessly. "They plan on working together tirelessly until they figure it out; they're already practicing on the way home. In the meantime, we need a coffin so they can start putting the enchantments on it when they get back."

Damon turned around and started to pace. "I'll give Kol a call so he bring over his coffin so we can use that," He rolled his eyes, "though I'm not sure he knows the meaning of the word 'subtly' so that might not work."

"What did Sheriff Forbes want?"

Damon sighed. And then explained.


Lexi kept her eyes on the road, glancing in the back seat only every few minutes. The Bennett witches were facing each other with their eyes closed, hands clasped together. Bonnie was leading in a whispered chant of Latin, and they were seemingly closed off from the rest of the world.

Lexi's hands clenched on the wheel.

She hoped and prayed that this worked and they got Klaus down and burying for a long, long time, and that when they got Stephanie back, it was in one piece. Because there was no doubt in her mind, Lexi would get her best friend back, but the question was how would she handle the pain and guilt when she did? Would it be so horrifying that she simply shut it off with a stronger wall next time? Would she do something drastic like injuring herself?

Her eyes darted back to the witches again. Lexi wondered about Expression and how close the Originals had been to controlling it centuries ago. Kol, one of the youngest Originals, seemed very focused on it, desired both its power and Bonnie. Lexi knew Bonnie would be able to handle herself around him, would be able to kill him if necessary.

But Lexi hoped it wouldn't come to that; she remembered tales from her own Sire about the vampire that had turned him, and sometimes Lexi thought that the description matched Kol . . .

But Lexi might never know, so it was just best not to let any of the Originals die. Just . . . quell the most dangerous ones. Maybe they would need to dagger Rebekah; she was closest to Klaus and would no doubt desire revenge. However, Lexi knew going down that line of thinking would require them to dagger all of the Originals, and even Lexi felt squeamish about backstabbing those who were helping them.

They would have to come up with something soon though, she knew.

In the backseat, Bonnie and her mother both exclaimed with surprise; Lexi turned and saw that some CDs and tissues were floating.

"Abby, you're doing it!"

Lexi's eyes cut back to the road and she felt her lips pulling into a victorious smile.

Klaus would be subdued within days.

And they would all be free.

.

.

.

tbc.