AN: Thank you for the reviews and favorites! Each time I get one, it makes me smile! I'm going to try to update often now that school is done. A lot goes on in this chapter, so I hope it all makes sense. If not, I'll try to clarify more in the next one Tonya, you're the only one that got the Misfits reference! Yay! Ran-Manwen, thank you for the reactions on your tumblr! It was absolutely delightful, I'm so flattered!
Dearly Departed
I'm alive.
The thought ricocheted inside her head, but she dared not open her eyes. Where would she find herself? In a dungeon, chained up? At the ends of the Earth? In a grave, in the darkness, six feet under?
The last thought sent a chill down her spine, the panic forcing her to sit up and open her eyes.
She was in her room. On her bed. The sheets, which smelled of detergent, were half on her legs and half on the floor. The moon shone through a large window that had been opened enough for a small breeze to come through. She didn't realize how much she had missed the sound of the leaves on the tree outside her window rustling in the wind.
Subconsciously, Bonnie reached for the necklace at her throat and found it gone.
She closed her eyes and searched her mind, her spirit – but the witches were gone, too.
Smother her.
His voice entered her head uninvited and she felt it all over again: the dizziness of the spell, the lightness of breath – the hundreds of witches using her body as a conduit for their power as the stranger closed her hand over Bonnie's mouth. That chemical smell, the image of Klaus' crazed eyes just moments before... she must have passed out.
For the first time in a long time, Bonnie Bennett was all alone.
She felt the sting of tears in her eyes and clenched her teeth against them. Setting her lips into a determined line, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. When they hit the floor, she was surprised to see her leg shaking. She stilled it with a forceful hand on her knee.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice came from the doorway.
Bonnie looked up and saw Stefan. "What... happened?" Her other hand flew up to her throat, and she could almost feel the hybrid girl's hands again. Even her voice didn't sound quite the same.
"I was hoping you would tell me," Stefan's brow furrowed. He leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his legs crossed at the ankles. Everything about him was cross.
"It didn't work." Bonnie said, a heaviness settling over her chest as she glanced down at her shaking knee. Her eyes shot back up to Stefan and she almost grimaced at the pity she saw there. "He's still alive, isn't he?"
"He is," Stefan nodded. "I brought you back here the morning after the full moon."
"It's night now," Bonnie said, her mind still foggy. She focused on her leg, determined to make it stop shaking.
"Bonnie, listen," Stefan said. "I brought you back here three days ago."
"Three days?" Bonnie shook her head. "I've been... sleeping?"
"Unconscious. My guess is chloroform," Stefan frowned, "And substantial amounts. Every time you almost came to, you slipped back under."
"She smothered me." Bonnie said, suppressing a chill at the words. Then she met Stefan's eyes, and said more fiercely: "She smothered me! I passed out. She broke the witches' hold in this world. I was their conduit, Stefan. Without me, their magic wouldn't work."
"That's why you're alive today," Stefan said.
"That's why Klaus is." Bonnie's hands fisted into the sheets underneath her.
"Both of you," Stefan conceded quietly.
Bonnie moved to stand, intended to stride across the room. But as soon as she placed her weight on her legs she collapsed to the floor. She could hear the floor creak under her sudden weight, could feel the bruise before it had even begun to form.
"Careful," Stefan warned, suddenly at her side. He touched her shoulder to help her up, but she shrugged him off. Bonnie pinned him with a ferocious look.
"What did he do to me?"
"Klaus," Stefan extended his arms to reference the witch before him, "isn't capable of this kind of damage on his own."
"What are you saying?" Bonnie said, pulling her legs into a more comfortable sitting position. She started to massage the muscles and found them eerily chilly to the touch.
When Stefan didn't respond, Bonnie lifted her eyes to meet his and found them studying her.
"The witches," he said slowly, and Bonnie knew his next words before he spoke them: "They're no longer with you."
"They must have left when I failed," Bonnie said, a sharp peak of humiliation hitting her. They had been angry at her before. She had tried to make it up to them, tried to stick to the plan. But there was something growing inside of her that they didn't like – a weakness that threatened to spread like black veins across her. She was rotting at the core. And at the centre of it all was Klaus and the confusion he inspired.
"Their power was too much for you. You knew you were going to die if you channeled it all," Stefan said, and she let him rest his hand on her shoulder in comfort. "You must have been pretty far in the spell to have suffered this badly."
Bonnie frowned. "You're saying this was all the witches?"
"Besides having his hybrid smother you," Stefan said as if remembering a distant conversation, "Klaus didn't lay a finger on you. You would've awoken much sooner if it wasn't for the internal damage from the spell."
"How damaged am I?" Bonnie asked, her voice barely escaping the suddenly tight confines of her throat. "Stefan, is my magic... gone?"
"I don't know," Stefan said hurriedly as he heard her choke back a sob.
She turned her face away from him and he turned his eyes away from her, staring past the young witch into the branches of the tree outside the window and the crow that rested there. And the fog that suddenly encased the evening.
"But I'm not leaving here," Stefan said lowly after a long while, "until I do."
"They should have just killed me," Bonnie's voice came out more whimper than whisper.
KB
"We should have killed her," Idina said. The redhead was sitting on the couch in Bonnie's spot, her eyes still a glassy black from her first feeding of the day. She licked blood off of her slender fingers like it was melted ice cream. Klaus turned away in disgust.
"She wore my clothes, she slept in my room." Her green eyes met his then, and he thought not Bonnie's green, "I can still smell the witch and she was only here a few weeks."
"Bonnie." Klaus said, his lips pursed as he glanced at the girl. He had a crossword spread in front of him, but none of the letters were making sense. The events of the last seventy two hours were taking their toll on his concentration.
He had taken the three werewolf roommates from their home to a more secluded location. He enchanted it with Bonnie's potion so they couldn't leave. He visited them often, explaining to them the beautiful future that awaited them. He brought them food and provisions. And, when the time came, he bit into his wrist and offered them all sips of his blood. And then he killed them.
He left the vial with Elena's blood on the counter in the kitchen beside three shot glasses.
Idina was the only one who drank. The others died in self righteous agony. Pity.
"She ensured your survival," Klaus reminded the young upstart, "The least you could do is remember her name."
"You're right," Idina said and offered a sweet smile. But inside she was seething. Bonnie Bennett. Bonnie tried to kill Klaus – Klaus who had been charming and kind to her; Klaus who had saved her from the curse of the full moon; Klaus who had given her eternal life. And how had he reacted? He told her not to kill her. So she didn't.
Idina had reached into her back pocket with vampire speed and extracted the chloroform-soaked handkerchief and held it over the witches' neck. Klaus had left the chemical bottle near the door of their prison with a command that it be brought to him. She thought it was a test, a show of loyalty – the first step in a series of tasks to demonstrate her appreciation of the gift.
But she was just his insurance.
And after incapacitating the witch and freeing Klaus from his bonds, did she even get a word in thanks? No, she didn't.
Instead, Klaus had walked directly to the fallen witch without more than a dismissive nod at Idina. He scooped her up and set her on the couch upstairs. And then he paced. He sat with her and stroked her hair. He traced the lifeline of her palms with his own. He held her wrist to his ear as if he would be more assured of her pulse beat if he did. And then, he got a phone call and paced some more.
A few hours after dawn, when another vampire showed up at the door to strike some kind of bargain, Klaus had instantly agreed.
He had picked the witch up and handed her over to the other vampire himself.
Perhaps Klaus didn't realize Idina saw – or worse, didn't care – but he pressed a brief kiss to Bonnie's forehead before handing her over. Then he set his expression to indifferent and pretended like it didn't matter.
Though that was the last Idina had seen of her, she knew it wasn't the last Klaus had seen.
No, maybe he didn't physically see her, but Idina knew he saw her everywhere. He hovered over the kitchen sink and drank tap water from a wine glass. He sat across from the couch but frowned a bit whenever she took a seat on it. When he walked past her bedroom door, her paused occasionally, and she thought – for a moment – that he might come in. Then she realized he was subconsciously seeking out the witch. And her jaw set and her expression steeled.
Bonnie Bennett, Idina said the name over and over again in her head as if, if she thought it enough, she could summon her. Or cancel out the summons emanating from Klaus. Because she knew, from the set of his lips, and the way his gaze strayed to the trap door that had since been busted open, that he was replaying her name too.
Bonnie Bennett, Bonnie Bennett, Klaus thought in the rhythm of a heart beat as he twirled the pen around. How to get back all that is mine?
For a brief moment, he had had it all. Bonnie Bennett on the verge of being completely loyal to him. Completely beholden to him. Safe from any threats (besides herself, of course). His family tucked away in coffins. His hybrids about to be born. Though, admittedly, he was about to die.
And then came the Salvatore who left him no choice but to slowly begin to lose it all.
You're alive, the Ripper had greeted him grimly.
Don't sound so disappointed, Klaus had sneered, his eyes still on the little witch as Idina sucked on a blood bag in the corner. What do you want?
Bonnie, the Ripper had said, for your coffins.
A beat.
Stefan, Klaus had replied with a note of condescending warning in his voice, don't do something that can't be undone.
I can say the same to you, Stefan assured, What was it Elijah feared? A family in coffins at the bottom of the ocean? I don't think you want to spend eternity scouring the Marianas trench for them.
I will destroy her before I return her to you, Klaus promised. He still remembered how his chest constricted at the thought.
For each inch of her you've injured, Stefan said noncommittally, expect it to be that much harder to locate the coffins.
I haven't laid a finger on her, Klaus snarled and Stefan thought he almost sounded... offended.
Bonnie or the coffins, Stefan had repeated, pausing in anticipation of an answer. As if he was testing him.
Bonnie or the coffins.
Bonnie, Klaus thought.
The coffins, he said. Be here in ten minutes or the deal is off.
The acts of betrayal committed by the contents of the coffins did not sting as sharply as Bonnie's did. And, what had he done to Bonnie really? Clothed her, housed her, fed her – didn't feed on her. He had been kind and almost, well, affectionate to the little witch all the while tolerant of her plot to kill him – all the while expecting that she ultimately wouldn't dare.
But she didn't. And if it weren't for Idina, they would both be dead.
Klaus' hand crushed the news paper at the thought. He dropped the paper and stood suddenly, startling Idina to lose the dazed smile on her face.
Picking it up, Idina frowned at the abandoned crossword puzzle. "Star-crossed lovers?" She called out to his retreating form. "Pretty sure that's Romeo and Juliet!" She heard the door close upstairs and tossed the paper to the ground.
"Not Bonnie and Klaus."
KB
"So," Damon said from his perch on the porch as Bonnie took her first tentative steps outside to the tune of the rising sun. She was wrapped in a thick blanket to protect against the cold, her oversized fuzzy slippers announced her presence with loud claps against the wood. "This is where you've been hiding out."
"Damon," Bonnie greeted the older vampire warily. Even with his back to her, in a dawn covered with fog, he could sense her presence – a trait that once irritated her, she was now grateful for.
"Venturing outside at last, are we, Bennett?"
"It's lonely," Bonnie admitted, "With Stefan gone."
"Stefan or Klaus?" Damon turned to her as she took a seat beside him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "You didn't do what you set out to," he sang out tauntingly, but the darkness in his eyes and the furrow of his brows showed more concern than his words could.
"I tried," Bonnie said, "I was close. A hybrid saved him."
"No," Damon scoffed, shaking his head before pinning her again with fierce baby blues. "You saved him. You gave him the means to make hybrids. It's almost like you wanted to give him an easy out."
"That's not true," Bonnie frowned. "I had to bide my time, wait for the Witch's Hour and the red moon. I wasn't strong enough on my own. You weren't there – you don't know what it took—"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Damon interrupted with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"You were against this plan from the beginning," Bonnie accused. "You're secretly happy to see me fail."
"I'm glad you're alive," Damon snapped quickly, stunning both of them with his admission. After a pause, he cleared his throat and tried again. "We live to fight another day."
"Except now he has hybrids, which you blame me for," Bonnie said, her lips setting into a firm line as she stared into the foggy distance.
"And his family, which I blame Stefan for." Damon said snidely.
"Wait," now it was Bonnie's turn to furrow her brows. "What do you mean? He always had them. Elijah was after them."
"Stefan stole the coffins," Damon sang out. "They day after you returned to Klaus' mansion, he punched Alaric out and broke out of the basement," he said the last part with a smirk, almost like he was proud or amused, "We thought he'd gone after humans, but he came back the next day with the coffins." Damon's eyes went glassy as he recalled the scene, and Bonnie couldn't help but smile softly at the look on his face – he was impressed. "Elijah. Rebekah. Two brothers. We opened them all, and there they were, daggers in heart. One big, deceased family."
But then his entire countenance darkened: "And then he went and gave them back."
He turned to face Bonnie: "For you."
"He gave up our biggest negotiating weapon?" Bonnie asked, and Damon balked at her obvious surprise. "For me?"
"How did you think he got you back?" Damon frowned. "Is there another reason Klaus wouldn't kill you on the spot?"
"No," Bonnie said, fighting the tinge of something she didn't want to examine too closely from entering her voice. "No, I suppose there isn't."
Damon tilted his head as if he hadn't heard her. "Well, we couldn't open one. That coffin we kept. Always good to have an ace up your sleeve," he said before smirking, "Oh wait, you're Bonnie. You don't cheat. Or gamble."
"I think I get the analogy," Bonnie said.
"We kept that coffin when he went to make the trade, but when we got back, it was open."
"What was in it?"
"Nothing." Damon said. "Whatever – or whoever – it was, is gone."
"Klaus' father?" Bonnie suggested tentatively.
"Klaus isn't the type to keep his enemies that close," Damon said before pausing and turning to her with a knowing smirk. "Or is he?" As he glowered at her with a predatory gaze, Bonnie maintained an impassive facade.
"Did you want me to try to figure out what was in the coffin?" Bonnie said shortly.
"No," Damon said.
"The witches are gone," Bonnie said, "I don't have the power to try to kill him again."
"I know."
"My powers have faded," Bonnie confided quietly, "They're returning slowly, but it might be days or even weeks before I'm at full capacity again."
"So, no aneurysms," Damon concluded.
"Just lighting candles and levitating feathers," Bonnie almost laughed at herself. "Parlor tricks."
"I don't need your magic."
"Then what are you here for, Damon?" Bonnie frowned in confusion as she tried to figure him out. "Stefan has been by to check on me. Elena has visited. You know I... failed. That I survived. Why are you here? What do you want?"
There was a pause where Damon studied her closely with his icy blue eyes before he shook his head and spoke: "I knew it was a mistake the minute I put you in his hands."
Bonnie smiled softly, and they both averted their eyes from each other. "You did what I asked."
"And," Damon said quickly, as if he had to get the words out before he changed his mind, "Thank you."
Bonnie focused on the distance to calm the emotions she felt at having her efforts acknowledged by someone – by Damon, no less.
"For trying."
When she turned to look at him, to offer a watery smile, he was gone.
So she sat alone, in the fog, unaware of the plotting eyes that were watching her.
KB
How to get back all that was his?
Klaus was dressing in the master bedroom, ignoring the sounds of insipid Idina going through her morning routine down the hall.
The coffins had been moved to the mansion he was having renovated and was being guarded twenty-four hours a day by two additional hybrids he had created using the vial of Elena's blood. He was missing the locked coffin, but that hadn't been opened in millennia; and he couldn't, realistically, consider its contents a threat.
So, family? Check.
He ran a comb through his wet hair and examined the smattering of facial hair on his cheeks.
He had Idina and, as a bonus, her unerring loyalty. He also had created two more hybrids, and could easily branch out to other werewolf packs in the future.
Hybrids? Check.
Klaus pulled a Henley shirt on over his head, much like the one he had seen Bonnie wearing when she awoke in his room.
Even better, with the vial, Bonnie had ensured that there was no reason to kill Elena or turn her into a human blood bag. However, she had also ensured that there was no reason to keep the doppelganger alive either.
Avenue for revenge against Stefan? Check.
He fingered the necklace on the table, holding it up to the light as if to examine it further – as if to see some trace of the witch or her presence in his life.
All that was missing was Bonnie...
Klaus' thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, almost regal, knock on the door.
"What?" Klaus barked as he opened the door, but the word died on his throat as he saw who stood before him, holding the heart of a hybrid in either hand that clunked gracelessly to the ground.
"Good morning," the voice hit him like a dagger a second before fingers curled over his throat, "Brother."
KB
Klaus had been uncharacteristically quiet.
Bonnie had expected him to lash out by now – had expected some sort of revenge or retaliation for what he must see as a great betrayal. Even more, she had felt something. Even with her connection to the Earth dimming with her faded powers (she could give Damon a brutal headache, but nothing crippling yet – and yes, she enjoyed using him as her guinea pig), Bonnie could sense that there was something just on the edge of her consciousness, seeking her out. Like a word on the tip of her tongue, or a dream she had almost forgotten, that she was struggling to recall.
Damon watched Bonnie make a tentative stride across the Gilbert kitchen to perch on the counter as they awaited the arrival of their fearless (emotionless) brooding leader. She still trembled at times, but she was making a quick recovery despite her refusal of vampire's blood. Caroline, who was under the impression that Bonnie had been in an accident while visiting her father, had offered her a wrist but Bonnie refused.
Werewolfs are connected to the Earth, Klaus had told her. They would make her stronger.
"Will Tyler be joining us?" She had asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"He's out of town," Caroline had said with a shrug, "He doesn't want to be involved in too much of this supernatural stuff anyway."
"Ditto." Bonnie had frowned.
"A bit late for that," Damon had quipped, coming up behind them.
Then Stefan entered, his face a grim line, with Elena following quickly behind.
"So," Damon cleared his throat, "Why exactly is the Justice League meeting today?"
"Because of this," Elena offered, placing a piece of paper delicately on the table.
"What is it?" Bonnie asked, though she made no move forward to inspect it.
"It's our next opportunity for an attack." Stefan said.
"It's an invite to a ball at Klaus' new mansion." Elena said, "A welcoming party for the Mikaelsons."
"Plural?" Damon's face broke into a grin, "As in, more than one?"
"Why are you smiling?" Caroline said, crossing her arms. "One Klaus is bad enough."
"Elijah's back," Damon said mischievously. "I un-staked him."
Bonnie couldn't help the dry laugh that escaped her throat. "Don't count on Elijah staying mad for long."
"It's not just Elijah," Stefan said ominously, flipping over the party invite.
Damon's smile fell from his face.
Caroline's brows perked up in surprise.
Stefan glanced at Bonnie and she slid from her perch on the counter to step forward.
"Guess we know what was in that coffin now," Caroline said as Bonnie read the note. A request to meet Elena personally. From Esther.
"Well if Elijah forgives Klaus for staking him," Bonnie said, "He won't feel the same about Klaus killing his mom."
"I have a feeling mommy dearest is the type to hold a grudge," Damon pointed out.
"She might kill him for us." Caroline chirped.
"One can only hope," Elena said, stealing a glance at Bonnie. No doubt she thought this would save her best friend from being sacrificed again.
"The only question is, what does she want with Elena?" Bonnie frowned. Last she checked, Esther wanted Elena dead as a way to prevent the hybrids from being created. Now that the vial existed, Esther had no reason for Elena to die... unless Damon was right, and she did hold a grudge.
"We're going to the ball." The Salvatores decided before breaking into a brief, subtle argument about who would be Elena's plus-one.
With Elijah, Esther and the Salvatores against him, surely Klaus would die.
Klaus would die.
So, why was the thought making her more sad than angry?
Frustrated with herself, Bonnie set the invite on fire and left the room to the sound of Elena's gasp and Damon's laughter.
KB
"The least you could do is pretend to be happy," Rebekah taunted him from her perch on the grand piano. Klaus sat brooding on the corner of one couch while Kol lay reclining on another trying to figure out an iPod. Elijah was still not talking to him, still "processing" what was happening. And Finn – well, Finn was out discovering paved roads, women in pants and indoor plumbing.
"We didn't leave," Rebekah continued when Klaus said nothing.
After Elijah had cornered him in the house, having killed and fucking fed on two of his hybrids (seriously, considering they were like his children, it was almost incestuous), Klaus had been forced to return with him to the mansion where he found the rest of his family feeding leisurely on choice Mystic Falls residents. Well, except for Finn, who had remained sitting up in his coffin as if upset that he had been awoken at all.
That is, until Rebekah broke the news. He killed our mother, she had said, her lip curling.
They attacked him. Elijah threw him across the room. Kol delivered a well-timed kick to his stomach and punch to his face. Though he would heal quickly, he felt it all. But Klaus struggled not to flinch.
He didn't fight back.
He had retreated into his mind, distancing himself from the situation, wondering for a moment – why didn't he die at Bonnie's hands, before they knew the truth? While he was still beloved?
But though they beat him, they couldn't kill them.
Elijah was the one to bring it to an end. He held out a hand and they retreated.
"We will leave," Rebekah had declared, clearly voicing a choice they had previously made. "And you will never see any of us again." She had sneered as she looked at him. "Family," she spat, "The one thing you always wanted, you have now forever lost."
Klaus didn't stop them.
They returned to their glowing, immortal selves and dressed quickly in modern versions of their favorite attire. Only Finn's eyes were not hardened with hatred when they took a final look at Klaus who would soon be alone in a big, empty mansion he had built for them – and that's only because Finn's eyes had dulled long ago.
As they prepared to make their exit, Esther appeared.
"Family," she had said, "The one thing we have all awaited, we will all now have. Forever."
She had opened her arms to her children, and they gaped in astonishment.
"How..."
"The witches' power has kept me hovering between this side and the other, preserving my body in anticipation of my return," Esther smiled at her children, "our reunion."
"The fifth coffin..."
"Opened inexplicably," Esther said, "They must have sensed that the time was right for us to be together. And they were correct, as you were all about to abandon the only thing in this long life that you are guaranteed of and blessed with – each other."
In the silence, Rebekah's gasp was an echo.
Finn's eyes sparked for the first time since he turned.
Elijah and Kol, for once, were speechless.
It was only then, when she turned her eyes to Klaus, that his passive mask fell. What was it about his mother and the way she looked at him that made him, despite his centuries of life, feel like he was fifteen again? The way he felt when he first began to truly, sincerely suspect that there was something different about the way his father treated him and the way his mother understood him and his existence: not as her son and family – but as her greatest mistake.
"Do you know why I have come?" Esther said, approaching him.
Klaus swallowed under her gaze and felt himself shrinking into himself.
And this is where it all began, he thought. He wasn't in denial. A thousand years had made him relatively self aware. He craved approval – from his mother who lied to him, his father who denied him, his siblings whose loyalty he would do anything for, his family that refused him no matter what he did to reconstruct their lives together. But he never got it, and there was only one reasonable conclusion to be drawn: Klaus was unloveable.
And now, with his siblings lined up with loathing behind the creature who had created and planned to destroy him, it had never been more clear.
"To kill me," he said, not bothering to hide the emotion that shook his voice.
Klaus was unloveable by anyone but the four hybrids he had created so far, and already 50% of them were extinct.
Except, he thought with a renewed spark, there was Bonnie.
And she truly had few reasons to feel anything for him but loathing.
If his mother's hatred of him, his family's distrust and despising of him – their willingness to throw away all that he had built for them – had given him those few stolen, honest moments with the Bennett witch, maybe it was ok.
Not worth it – because how could a few physical comforts reverse centuries of running, hiding, hating himself, stabbing his siblings and being, in every sense of the word, alone?
But, maybe it was ok.
"No," Esther smiled, reaching out to take Klaus's hand. Then, he did flinch.
"I have come," she said, tilting her head in that maternal way that she hadn't done since he was a small boy, "To forgive you."
Forgiveness. Well, it wasn't love. But it was close enough. Klaus relaxed under her gaze.
"To make our home a home again," she continued, turning to face the others.
"Mystic Falls?" Elijah spoke at last.
"Yes," Esther nodded at them all. "Mystic Falls has always been our home, and it's time we returned to how we were."
"So," Rebekah said, shifting his gaze from Elijah to Esther, "We are staying?"
"We are more than staying," Esther smiled at her daughter, and Rebekah's face broke out into her sweet, girlish grin, "We are throwing a welcoming party."
Esther cast her gaze across the room again, "All are invited – enemies and friends," she said before adding with a touch of warning, "and all will be safe."
"Peace," Finn said, in understanding.
"Leave it to me," Klaus said, perhaps a bit too quickly. But all were too entranced with the return of Esther to recall their anger at him – at a deed that had apparently been undone.
Leave it to me, Klaus had said, slowly retreating from the room to plan his next steps.
Now he sat in the living room with his siblings, having gone from expecting his death, to sending out invitations.
"Now that she's back," Klaus turned to Rebekah now with faux-sweetness, "perhaps you can let that go."
"Perhaps," Rebekah said, fingering the invitations on the table. "You know," she said, getting lost in her own thoughts, "I never got to go to that dance."
"There will be more school dances," Klaus said, patting his sister's hand. "In the next hundred years alone."
"I meant," Rebekah said, retracting her hand, "That perhaps I will bring a date."
Klaus arched an eyebrow. "Stefan?"
"No," Rebekah's visage darkened. "Someone a bit more... wholesome."
"Why would you want a date," Kol suddenly chirped in, "When all of Mystic Falls will be on parade before you. Why tie yourself down so early?"
"I've already seen who's who in Mystic Falls," Rebekah reminded him, "And my tastes are not nearly so... forgiving as yours."
"Are you saying I have low standards?"
"I'm saying you're a slut."
Kol coughed his indignation. "I see the judgmental ways of this world have not changed much."
"It's not the world," Rebekah said, "It's you."
"I'm mischievous and charming," Kol dismissed her with a deviant smile. "Ask Mary."
Rebekah rolled her eyes at the mention of her old friend who Kol had seduced. "I would, if she had not been dead for over five centuries."
"Five centuries?" Kol balked. "It has been far too long." He flashed a charming smile at his sister, "Perhaps you can tell me who this century's belle of the ball will be?"
Rebekah smiled back at Kol. "Well," she began, "Her name is Elena. And you will not believe your eyes when you see her..."
As Rebekah continued to set their brother up for failure, Klaus retreated into his plan. His mother had written the invitations out in her delicate hand, with information from Klaus and Elijah on who absolutely must be invited.
"We must extend invitations to the most powerful," Esther had said, "Our potential allies."
Of course, Elijah had insisted that Bonnie Bennett be invited, all the while keeping an eye on his scowling brother.
Of course, Klaus could not allow that invitation to be delivered. Bonnie had left him and made no attempt to resume communication since. She could very well be plotting his demise this moment. Besides, if there was anything he knew about the witch, it was that the only way he could get from her the kind of attention he needed – nay, deserved – did not lay in niceties and tuxedos.
No, it lay in antagonism.
And what better place to start than playing on her insecurities and fears by inexplicably shifting his attentions to her beautiful, vampire friend?
KB
Klaus left Bonnie a present on her porch. He was reclined on her porch steps, his eyes scanning the area every so often. When her car pulled up, he stood up with legs wide and shoulders straight, as if he were standing at attention.
"Tyler," Bonnie smiled, approaching her friend. Happy to see Tyler, and happy to get an energy boost from his werewolf status, she approached "Caroline said you were out of town."
"That's what I told her," Tyler nodded in affirmation.
Bonnie's pace slowed as she neared him. Something was wrong. His eyes scanned their surroundings again, and his face was set in a serious line – not the usual teasing, taunting smile that the Lockwood men were known for.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked, stepping closer slowly. She reached out a hand to rest on his shoulder and that's when she saw it.
The blackness hit her so suddenly that it left her head reeling. It came with the echo of a cracking neck, the metallic aftertaste of blood. And Klaus's eyes.
"No," Bonnie breathed, shaking her head. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she felt them slipping down her cheeks uncontrollably. "No!" She shook Tyler, "Why? Why would he do this?"
"You know," Tyler said, his lips breaking into a smile then. He sounded so proud when he continued that it made Bonnie nauseated. "Klaus said you would."
"No," Bonnie shook her head as if if she said it enough – chanted it like a spell – everything would reverse and go back to how it used to be. The word tumbled from her lips over and over again until it sounded strange to even her.
"Bonnie," Tyler's brow furrowed. "Don't be upset."
"You..." the words caught and died in her throat. She took a step away as he approached her.
"I won't hurt you," Tyler said, raising his hands in defeat.
"I should have killed him," Bonnie said, "This is my fault. I shouldn't have given him the vial," the words fell over each other in between gasps for breath, "I did this to you."
Klaus' voice hit her suddenly like a punch in the gut – werewolf and vampire cancel each other out.
He had turned Tyler into a vampire – no, into a damn hybrid! – just to get back at her. He killed her friend just to destroy the only energy source in her group. Bonnie's eyes welled up with frustrated tears.
"This is my fault!"
"Klaus did it," Tyler said calmly, as if he didn't understand her, "He saved me."
"Saved you?" Bonnie was the one confused now.
"I don't have to change," Tyler said with a grin, "I'm stronger, faster, I can't die. I'm going to be with Caroline forever."
"Tyler," Bonnie shook her head, "You're a vampire. You're not supposed to be a vampire!"
"I wasn't supposed to be a werewolf," Tyler said. "Now I'm free."
"What-why," Bonnie sputtered.
"It's ok," Tyler assured her, reaching out to wipe the tears from her face. "I will tell Caroline. If that's what you're concerned about."
Part of Bonnie wished he had gone to Caroline before coming to her. Why would he come to her first? There was only one answer to that. Klaus.
"You should go, then," Bonnie said, feeling for her cell phone in her pocket to warn her friend.
"I will," Tyler said, dropping has hands and resuming his at-attention stance. "After you are safe at home. And I will be back in the morning to take you to school."
"What?" Bonnie took a step away from Tyler, closer to her house. "Why?"
"Because," Tyler said, like it was obvious. "It's the least I can do."
"The least you can do," Bonnie said, a chill shooting down her spine, "For whom?"
"Klaus," he said, like it was obvious.
Klaus.
KB
There's something wrong with Tyler.
Caroline's words seemed to resound through the cafeteria although her hushed voice was barely audible. Bonnie felt a familiar chill spike through her as she heard the words. Everyone had accepted quickly what Klaus had done, and Stefan had eyed the young hybrid with suspicion and tended to keep a wide berth. No one questioned Bonnie or suspected that the transformation had anything to do with her.
And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that it Klaus was sending her a message she didn't want to receive. It didn't help that Tyler seemed to be beside her every waking moment that Caroline was not around. When she woke in the morning, he was waiting outside her house to take her to school. He drove her home and didn't head off until she was securely inside. Even then, she was certain he drove in circles around her perimeter.
She felt like she was being circled by a shark.
She couldn't speak to Stefan to or go to the Grille without risking Tyler tagging along (and possibly, Caroline). She didn't want Elena to know of the extent of her... ordeal with Klaus. Especially after she had regularly given her side eye for the enamored glances she exchanged with eternal deviant Damon Salvatore. She didn't want Caroline to know that she had even been under Klaus' thumb – she liked the lie that she had been away visiting family. For once, she was lucky that with the problems that kept cropping up, that Caroline hadn't asked her more about the boy she had spoken to her of weeks before or asked for more details about her trip away.
But with Tyler around, Bonnie's decision to keep everything under wraps just got harder and harder. She really couldn't talk to anyone about anything without it getting back to Klaus until he had retreated to Caroline's and she could take out her cell phone and call Stefan, out of range of his hybrid hearing.
"Things will be different for a while," Elena reminded her friend gently, "Think of how it was for you when you turned."
"It's not the same," Caroline insisted, glancing across the room for the familiar head of blonde, curly hair that had been showing up sporadically to social events (but not to classes). When she assured herself that Rebekah was not at school, she continued. "Every time Klaus is mentioned, he gets really defensive. He keeps talking about how Klaus saved him. Klaus! As if they're best friends or something." She frowned, turning to Bonnie, "It's scaring me."
"Has he hurt you?" Bonnie asked.
"He would never," Caroline shook her head. "But I worry for him. And," she sighed, "I'm not sure I can trust him."
"Give it time," Elena said, and Bonnie wondered if she was thinking of her own former beau when she said that.
And, as if on cue, the younger Salvatore arrived with his recent Ripper swagger. He pulled up a chair, turned it backwards, and leaned forward, staring at the three ladies whose conversation had stilted.
"Don't stop on my account," Stefan said, "I could follow the conversation from across the room. Tyler. Hybrid. Got it. Continue."
Elena shifted awkwardly and Bonnie exchanged a glance with Caroline, unsure if her friend wanted to disclose the situation to Stefan. He wasn't the same guy who had taught her to hunt and survive her turning – there was still something fragile about their friendship that showed itself in how she cast her eyes away as if in thought.
"He's probably sired," Stefan said, when the girls said nothing and all eyes were on his again. Though he didn't show it, Bonnie knew that he was most affected by the brown eyes that found his.
When you have something that alleviates the loneliness, he had told her in the throes of his blodd-detox. And it seemed true: with Elena's eyes on his, he volunteered more information than she expected, as if being in her presence alone could sooth his spirit.
"Tyler is completely loyal to the person who turned him."
Caroline snorted. "I am not loyal to one Damon Salvatore."
"It stems from his gratitude to being freed from the pain of the transformation. Your turning," Stefan said, and Bonnie almost winced at the memory, "had nothing to do with escaping pain."
Caroline frowned, her shoulders slumping. "What are we going to do?"
"We'll figure it out," Elena assured her.
"Maybe it's like compulsion," Bonnie said, "and he'll be free from it when Klaus dies. Or when he wants it to be over."
"Has anyone ever broken a sire bond?" Caroline said, her eyes turning hopefully to Stefan.
He opened his mouth, perhaps about to crush her hope, when Elena's eyes also turned to his and the words died before he spoke them. Instead he hunched his shoulders and let out a breath, "I can look into it."
"It'll be okay," Elena said again, taking Caroline's hand and squeezing.
"You're basically saying I'm dating mini-Klaus," Caroline snapped. "How is it going to be okay?"
"You just," Elena took a deep breath, "Have to believe it. It's the only thing that will get you through, when you love someone."
Stefan and Elena exchanged a look then, and Bonnie deliberately averted her eyes. She felt like she was intruding on something personal, some private exchange not meant for other's eyes. But as quickly as it began, it was over. If it weren't for the small smile that seemed to itch to be free at the corner of Stefan's mouth, she would have thought it hadn't happened at all.
Bonnie took a sip of coffee to hid her own smile.
"You're right," Caroline said, her mind elsewhere. She set her lips into a determined line and sang out like she was leading cheerleading practice: "There's no point in worrying over what you can't control. We just need a game plan."
"Is there anything you can do about it?" Elena asked, turning to Bonnie.
"I don't know," Bonnie said, deliberately ignoring Elena's reference to her magic. When she tried to avert her eyes, she met Stefan's knowing gaze and they nodded in unison when she said: "But I can try."