Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about how long it took to update this story. I'm hoping that it will not take nearly that long for chapter 11. On with the show…

Chapter 10: I Know Nothing

The world as Bonnie Bennett knew it had seemed like a strange place for so long that she was almost convinced that she would wake up from this dream she had been having for weeks on a space ship. At least she wished that would happen. But, no, she was here, in the Salvatore living room, again, listening to a loud augment between the two leaders of the Mystic Falls division of The Klaroline Shipper's Game.

"You took one of mine, Damon. Therefore I have every right to one of yours," Elena was shouting with her hands on her hips.

"Take would imply want. And I did not want that," Damon snapped back, gesturing in Katherine's direction who was nudging his precious decanter of bourbon closer and closer to the edge of the table until… crunch. The sound of breaking glass caused Bonnie's already tender nerves to explode as she jumped on the couch she was sitting on.

"Oops," Katherine said with a smirk as all eyes went to her. "Sorry. I guess even ghosts can be clutzy."

"You are such a bit-" Damon began with his eyes narrowed into little slits when Elena picked up an expensive looking vase. Holding it between two fingers, she coughed loudly, waiting for Damon to look up. When he flicked his eyes to her, they rounded while his mouth opened wide. "ELENA! What the hell! Put that down!" he demanded, pointing one finger downward.

"No!" Elena retorted, still holding the vase precariously above the floor. "I want you to pay attention when I tell you that you're making up the rules as you go along, you're cheating and that ends now! And if you don't like it then I can think of a few other items in this house that you'll miss a lot more."

"Fine," Damon growled. "Then how would you suggest that we make this a little more fair?"

"I suggest that we bring in someone who is not on either team and who can judge whether we're playing by the rules," Elena told Damon as Enzo chuckled.

"Yes, mate. Let little, goody goody tell us all how we shall play this game. That should be good for a laugh," Enzo remarked with a wide smile.

"Who asked you for your opinion?" Stefan inquired while Enzo glowered at him before opening his mouth.

Elena dropped the vase on the floor and Stefan grimaced at it. "Now, do I have everyone's attention?" Elena demanded, glaring at the others.

"I have to pee," Jeremy told his sister who rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Bonnie can you fill him in?" Elena asked her friend while Jeremy shot up off the couch where he had been sitting with his girlfriend.

"Sure," Bonnie muttered since the doppleganger was now talking without having waited for a response. Bonnie was used to people just expecting her to do whatever they asked, with no questions of her own asked. Sometimes she just wanted to tell all of her friends to get their own lives and she was tired of helping. Like now. No one had really asked her if she wanted to waste her time trying to get one of her oldest and closest friends together with a psychopath. Nope. Thy just thought she would go along with the scheme like she always did.

"Matt, you can come in now," Elena called as Matt appeared with a look of apprehension. Bonnie could completely empathize with Matt. "He's going to be our new regulator to make sure that this game stays fair."

"Really?" Kol Mikaelson demanded. "Him? Why don't you train a puppy? You'll have the same effect, except the puppy is cute."

"Hey!" Matt and Rebekah yelled at the same time.

"That is a sign of my sister's bad taste," Kol told them with a smile.

Elena sighed and rolled her eyes toward Bonnie who forced a reassuring smile when she would much rather be in her room studying for an exam or having some alone time with Jer before one of them died, again. "Okay, people. Focus!" Elena shouted at the group who were all arguing again. "Matt, will you please tell Damon that if he takes one of the people from my team that it is perfectly reasonable for me to take one of his," Elena stated calmly in that "I am Reason Personified, a voice that Bonnie had to restrain herself from giggling about. If all of them were reasonable they would not be encouraging this game to continue.

"Yeah? Ummm… Damon. I guess you have to give one of your team mates up…" Matt trailed off as Damon glared at him, showing his fangs.

"No threatening the ref," Rebekah added, coming to pat Matt on the arm.

"Whatever," Damon snorted. "Which one of them do you want?" he asked in a bored tone while Elena examined his team.

Taking far too long to make the decision that Bonnie was sure she already made up her mind about before even setting foot in this room, Elena opened her mouth and said, "Stefan." Gee, that was shocking.

"No. No way!" Damon thundered, waving his arms as his brother looked at him and then Elena.

"I don't mind," Stefan began when Damon shot him a glare that shut the younger Salvatore up.

"No! Pick someone else," Damon demanded with his arms folded over his chest.

"Why? Are you scared that if I take Stefan it might give me an advantage?" Elena inquired with a smile directed at Damon that caused Damon to snarl.

"No, I do not think that having Stefan is an advantage. Hell, I'd give him to Team NOLA because he's the least useful member of my team," Damon stated with a smirk.

"Hey!" Stefan protested, causing Bonnie to let the giggle that had been trying to break free for the last twenty minutes to come out.

"Pick someone else," Damon uttered, not bothering to acknowledge Stefan as he got up and stomped off toward the kitchen.

"Rebekah," Elena spat with a tight smile.

Damon's eyebrows shot up and his grin dropped. He held up his hands. "I don't know why you want her. She would just be a walking, talking reminder of your glory days as Crazy Elena. Do you really want that on your conscious?" he questioned Elena who shifted uncertainly from foot to foot.

"Yes," she said after another long pause.

"Fine. Whatever," Damon waved for Rebekah to join Elena's team. "Guess that meeting's over. Let's go, people," he called waiting for his team to follow him out of the room. Pausing in the doorway, he smirked at Elena. "Don't let the door hit you on your way out," he added.

"Wouldn't think of it," Elena shouted back. "Okay. Time to go see what we can do to ruin Damon's game," she announced loudly, leading the group out of the house.

"I cannot believe that I am stuvk with you lot now. What are we, #Team Dull?" Rebekah inquired once they were getting into Elena's car.

"No, more like #Team Weren't Really Asked If WE Wanted to do this," Jeremy told the Original and Bonnie smiled. Jeremy had just barely caught up with them on the way out the door.

"You, too?" Rebekah gave Jeremy and Bonnie a sympathetic look. "I wasn't planning on joining either but I didn't really have much else to do since Nik let me go."

"And it looks like you're going back," Bonnie reminded the Original who frowned.

"Yes, it does appear that way, doesn't it," Rebekah sighed. "Well, that is what you do for love, is it not? And I suppose that it why we are trying to unite Nik and Caroline. Two lost souls doomed to drive each other and the rest of my family insane for the next thousand years. On the bright side Caroline can be my maid of honor if I ever marry," she added with a wistful smile.

"Or you can be hers," Jeremy retorted, earning himself a glare from Rebekah.

The Original sister turned her attention to Elena. "So, why is it that you wanted me on your team, anyway, love? Thought you and I were not friends since you decided to be your old boring, self-righteous self again?"

"We're not. And I picked you because you have longer history with Klaus than any of us. Or, well, anyone period. You know what makes him tick and you'll be able to help us figure out the best strategy for how to get Klaus and Caroline together," Elena told Rebekah.

Bonnie thought that Elena's plan did sound like it could work. The only hang up was that they didn't really know why Klaus "gave" Rebekah her freedom. Why would you dagger someone all those times and then just let her go? Had Rebekah done something that caused Klaus to stop giving a damn? If that were true, having Rebekah on their team could turn out to be a detriment rather than an asset. But Bonnie wasn't going to get in the middle of it.

"I suppose I might be able to pull that off," Rebekah stated, looking out the window, her lips pursed. "And what is it that you will be doing for me if I am able to help you with this?"

"Excuse me?" Elena looked back at Rebekah who smiled at her.

"Nothing in this life is free, Elena. So tell me, what is it that you're willing to do to make this worth my while? Hmmm!" Rebekah continued to smile as Elena and the passengers of her car grew uncomfortable.

"What do you want?" Elena asked, her voice hoarse. Bonnie knew how much Elena hated to make deals with the Originals, especially Rebekah after she killed her. This was not going to be easy.

"I want what I have always wanted. I want a normal life. I want your life. You're going to college, tedious exams, studying, parties with your friends, dates and family, sort of, yes? That is all I want. I want to be just like you, Elena. Only prettier of course. That won't change. All you have to do is allow me into your life, introduce me to your friends, make me part of the life I truly deserve," Rebekah stated.

For a moment Bonnie felt pity for the Original. Even if they were not supernatural creatures, what made her think that life was easy? Life was never easy. You were always one step away from the grave, no one in their group knew that better than Bonnie, except maybe Jeremy.

"Fine," Elena said.

"Just one other thing," Rebekah added. "I also want you to make sure that Nik does not ever know where I am. Am I making myself clear?"

"Sure. We can do that," Elena told Rebekah as if keeping anything from an angry Klaus was that easy. Sure it was.

Rebekah relaxed into her seat. "Good. Now I suppose it is time to tell you all about Damon's little plan for Caroline."

"And what would that be?" Elena asked, turning her full attention toward Rebekah rather than the road. Sometimes Bonnie thought that vampires just didn't remember or didn't care that all of the people with them were not indestructible.

"Oh, just that he plans on getting Caroline off to New Orleans ASAP. And then you will have one hell of a fight on your hands. Once Klaus is aware that Caroline is there he will simply assume that she is there for him, no matter what she says to alter that impression. My brother's ego is one of the largest that ever was. He will not be deterred from his conquest. If you thought his attempts to pursue her here in Mystic Falls were something to behold, you just wait and see what he does now," Rebekah told them with a grin.

"So all we need to do is make sure that we're the ones to get Caroline to New Orleans first," Elena said with a smile. "Okay. I'll call Caroline right now and see what she's up to."

"Yes, and you might want to hurry. Who knows what Katherine has convinced Damon to do in the name of love this time," Rebekah remarked with a roll of her eyes.

Pulling out her cell phone, Elena began to dial before putting the phone on speaker. "Hey, Care? What're you up to?" Elena called into the phone when Caroline picked up.

"Hey, Lena. I'm packing for this trip that my mom and I are going on. A little mother/daughter bonding," Caroline replied cheerily, her voice floating through the car.

"Huh? Whose idea was that?" Elena inquired, her tone light while her expression showed her growing rage.

"Damon. I think. He was talking to my mom about how hard she works and how she really needs to take some time off. And I never thought I would ever say this, but I think that Damon might be right about something in, like, ever," Caroline continued in that same cheerful tone.

"Really? Huh. That's great. I'm really happy to know that you and your mom with get to have some time together. Just the two of you," Elena said, rolling her eyes. "You both totally deserve it. When are you scheduled to leave?"

Caroline sighed. "Tomorrow morning. I hate that I'm leaving you and Bonnie so soon after we got her back but I just really want to spend some time with my mom. I've been so busy with school that we rarely get to just hang out."

"Well, since you're not going till tomorrow then we could have a party tonight. It'll be like old times. I've got Bonnie with me and we can swing by the dorm to pick you up," Elena replied, glancing at Bonnie.

"Yeah, Care, I can get some herbs like that one time at the Salvatores only this time you won't have to worry about arguing with Elena about Damon," Bonnie added. Sitting back in her seat, Bonnie offered Elena a smile even though she hated the fact that they were tricking Caroline.

"That sounds amazing. I so miss our girls' nights," Caroline enthused. "I will see you then."

Hanging up, Elena began to do a happy dance as she pulled onto a road leading them back to Whitmore. "This is going much more smoothly than I could have hoped for it to."

"I want one of those girls' nights as soon as this mess is over," Rebekah grumbled while pulling out her phone and texting away.

"Good for you," Bonnie muttered under her breath. Just the idea of having to act like she was besties with Rebekah Mikaelson just because Elena made a deal made her skin crawl. Why couldn't they have made a deal to kill one of Rebekah's enemies? That would have been much easier. The vampire seemed to be so busy with her texting that she didn't even notice Bonnie's jab, or maybe she didn't care.

"So what's the plan?" Rebekah asked after pocketing her phone. "Bonnie drugs our little heroine and off we go on the next flight? Is that it? Sounds too easy to me."

"If we do that how am I supposed to keep on top of whether people are not cheating? And how am I am supposed to keep up with what the group in New Orleans are doing? And why am I even doing this since I was nearly a victim of this stupid game already?" Matt practically shouted causing the vampires to wince.

"Volume control, Matt," Elena moaned.

"Matt, darling, I swear that no harm will come to you so long as I am around," Rebekah reassured him and Bonnie sighed.

'Sure,' Bonnie thought. Because every other time one of the vampires in this group had ever promised anyone protection nothing bad ever happened to them. You know, other than being tortured and/or killed. No big deal. Just small stuff. The sooner this game was over the happier Bonnie would be.

"I guess you'll just have to trust that everyone is telling the truth," Elena said uncertainly.

"Yeah, as if that's going to happen any time soon," Jeremy added with a shake of his head.

"Let's just go ahead and get to Whitmore. We'll figure out the rest later," Elena ordered the group who fell silent for once. Thankfully Katherine was gone; otherwise there would be at least twenty-four more bitingly sarcastic insults flung back and forth before blissful quiet.

Once the group got to Whitmore there were a few more comments that sounded more like threats volleyed back and forth before Elena and Bonnie walked up to their room. "What do you think we should tell Caroline?" Elena asked Bonnie, who shrugged. She really didn't care at this point. She felt defeated. "I was thinking that we tell her that we're going to that one little bar that she liked so much over the weekend with the cute bartender."

"Sure, Lena. Whatever," Bonnie replied dully as they reached their floor.

Stopping, Elena caught Bonnie by the wrist. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sure," Bonnie replied with a laugh that sounded forced to her own ears.

"No, it's not," Elena retorted. "Tell me."

"I just don't think that you've thought this whole plan through. I know that you're pissed at Damon. I get that. I even get why you're trying to throw yourself into this insane game to not have to deal with how badly you're hurting right now but did it ever occur to you that Klaus Mikaelson is the worst thing that ever happened to Caroline?" Bonnie questioned Elena who looked shocked.

"No one ever said that I thought that Klaus was a good guy. But neither is Damon. But…" Elena trailed off looking uncomfortable with where her thoughts had led her. Her eyes were now taking in the cracks in the floor.

"Because Damon is not entirely evil which means that there might be a part of Klaus that is not entirely evil, right? And that means that if Caroline was able to pull that part of Klaus into the light then maybe we would do something good. Is that the logic here?" Bonnie coaxed her friend.

Looking up, Elena nodded with a tentative smile. "I know that it sounds crazy but if I'm right then we wouldn't have to look over our shoulders fearing he would come back. And think of all the other potential victims that we could help?"

"Okay," Bonnie replied, making up her mind to help. Even if Elena was wrong it was still worth a try.

Moving forward, the two girls stopped in front of their dorm room smiling at each other before Bonnie reached for the doorknob. Twisting it, she entered first to find that Caroline and her bags were gone. "Oh," Bonnie gasped.

Elena stepped inside and grabbed a piece of paper off the bed and growled. "Damn it," she cried.

"Damon?" Bonnie asked as Elena shook her head.

"Nope," Elena replied as she looked up at Bonnie and then back at the paper in hand. She began reading it aloud, "Greetings from your friends in New Orleans. See you all soon, Marcel Gerard," Elena said, crumpled the paper in her fist. "How do they keep getting ahead of us?"

Bonnie had no idea. One thing she did know was that there was a spy on either one or both of the teams in Mystic Falls.

Comments? Questions?

Okay, I know that I'm pretty much torturing all of you but I swear that Klaus and Caroline will appear in the next chapter. Whether they actually interact with each other is still up in the air.

Answers to reviews:

Guest: Oops. Forgot the truth spell… I will remember next time.

Guest: Chapter 11 will definitely happen in New Orleans.

Guest: Thank you for reviewing.

Yzabelle: Chapter 1 review: I wouldn't either.

Chapter 10 review: Thank you.

Zombieleopard: They are interesting and challenging to write.

Jusea Peterson: Yes, Damon wanted to get Caroline moving toward NOLA ASAP. Unfortunately his idea got hijacked. I'm looking forward to writing about the evil plans of how Datherine will try to get their team back on top. Thank you for enjoying the chapters leading up to the reunion. I think there will be more team switching soon, especially Kol…

Opi: Yes, I know that there are people who are not fans of the baby plot and I was not when they first came up with the scenario, fearing it would turn out like Angel. However, Hope is so damned cute I can't help but love the kid and after awhile I just accepted the plot… Kat is fun to write about especially when she's up to no good…

Salazarjasam: Thank you…

Lis3011: You will soon. Very soon…

Calovestowrite: Thank you and I am truly sorry for making you wait so long on the update.

Ms. Dreamer93: Thank you. I love writing about Delena working out their problems by interfering with another couples'. It's probably the weirdest type of therapy I can think of. I think I can include Mikael somehow since I kind of love him.

AnnaTom23: At some point Caroline will figure out what is going on and that will be like a part two kinds of thing which I am looking forward to getting to. Oh, my God. I miss Liz already. Looking back at this review is making me all nostalgic. Agh. Tissues? Please! Agh!

Redbudrose: Kol is fun. I love to write about him in this fic.

MissSalvaforbeson: Kol and Katherine are so much fun to write about. Maybe they'll create their own team at some point… Thank you for the suggestions for #Anti-Team Klaroline as if there aren't enough of those. Gah! (Eye roll).

Klarolineforever100: Finally! It was like pulling a bunny out of a hat and I had to stick my whole body in there to pull the darn thing out. :/

Darkprincesssalvatore: Thank you so much.

Thank you for faving, following, reading and/or for reviewing.

Peace,

Jessica