A/N: I don't really have an excuse for the hiatus. My life has been crazy, new jobs, fighting with the BF, money trouble - pretty much all the things that sucks about growing up. I'm beginning to think Peter Pan had the right idea. But all your lovely words have meant the world to me, especially those of you who thinks I have some potential as a writer. That almost made me cry happy tears, as I am actually currently trying to write some non-fanfiction fiction. I hope I haven't scared you all away with this pause in the story. Hopefully I can update a little more regular from now on. I hope you will stick with me and keep reviewing.
In this chapter: Bending the rules a little, borrowing something from the Originals… All in a days work

When it rains, it pours

It seemed like the room exploded in voices and movement as they all rushed around, loudly wondering what had happened to both Elena and Rebekah and trying to figure out if they should move them or maybe call a doctor. Bonnie stood off to the side, staring at the still form of Elena.

"We should call Meredith" Alaric said.

"No, we need to cool her down. Now" Elijah argued.

"I don't think we should move her" Caroline sobbed.

In the other room, Stefan polished off the last bottle of vine. Damon was uncharacteristically quiet.

"We need to know what kind of magic this was" Elijah muttered, feeling Elena's forehead. "She's burning up"

"How did Esther posses Rebekah" Jeremy asked. He looked pale and confused.

"Blood magic" Klaus said, looking at Kol, who nodded. "She must have created a link the night of the party."

"What does that mean" Caroline asked. Her voice was high pitched and her eyes were red.

"Let's not worry about that right now" Klaus said, a little more gently, but Bonnie could tell he was worried. They all were.

"We need to break the spell or curse or whatever this is" Alaric said.

7 pairs of eyes turned to stare at Bonnie, who suddenly felt like throwing up. "I don't know…" She started in a very small voice. "I…" She bit her lip. "I don't know curses and blood spells." A tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course you do" Damon suddenly said

"I don't know how" Bonnie whispered. She looked at Elena again.

"Bonnie, we need you" Alaric said. His tone was gentler than Damon's, but it felt so much worse coming from him.

"We need to know what Esther did before Bonnie starts firing off spells left and right" Kol mediated.

"Bekah stabbed her with this" Klaus said, indicating the needle Elijah had picked up.

"Cursed object" Elijah said.

"Mother needs a new party trick" Klaus muttered. "The good news is, we might be able to do something about it. If mother had the object, she must have known something about it. Maybe it's in one of her books at the house?"

"Alright" Elijah said, carefully picking up Elena. "Let's go."

Alaric, Jeremy and Caroline followed him as Klaus picked up his sister and slung her over his shoulder. "Coming" he asked Kol.

"In a minute. I'll bring Bonnie" Kol said.

Damon looked a little lost, like he wasn't sure what his role was in all this. After a second of tiptoeing, he grabbed Stefan and followed Elijah as well.

Bonnie stared at the door and waited a moment before she burst into tears. "I don't know what to do" she whispered.

Kol took her hand. "I think I have a few ideas. We'll work it out." He gave her a light squeeze. "Ready to go?"

"No" she blubbered, but let him lead her out of the house anyway.

Kol nodded a little. "I'll drive."

They all arrived in a sort of confused whirlwind of cars and yelling. Elijah had carried Elena through the house and out into the back yard to the pool in an attempt to cool her down. Kol showed Bonnie to the library, where he started to rummage through books in order to find the grimoires. Caroline was trying to help, but seemed to mostly just get in the way and she finally stepped back to stand awkwardly with Bonnie.

"You can do this" Caroline told her quietly.

"I don't know, Care" Bonnie said in a shaky voice.

"You can. You have to, Bonnie."

"Try this one" Kol said, handing Bonnie a dusty old book.

Bonnie started to flip through the book, not even sure what she was looking for. "This is in latin" she said, unsure. "I don't read latin."

Kol stepped up and started to carefully look over pages.

"You read latin" Caroline asked.

"No one reads latin, it's a dead language" Kol said, not looking up. "Here we are, cursed objects."

"Great, and then what" Bonnie asked. "If I can't read it, I'm not sure I'll be of much use."

"Well, we need a potion of some kind" Kol muttered, narrowing his eyes a little. "And uh, an incantation."

Bonnie sighed. "I can say the words, I guess. Even if I don't actually know what they mean."

Kol looked over the yellowed page. "It's pretty much your run of the mill standard witch nonsense" he shrugged. "You summon someone, chant some stuff about nature, draw the curse out and…." He made a gesture like a bomb exploding.

"It explodes" Caroline asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think the important thing is that it doesn't harm Elena or the baby" Kol muttered

"What if I'm not powerful enough" Bonnie asked.

"You're powerful enough" Caroline quickly assured her.

"We'll have to make do" Kol simply said, closing the book.

Bonnie and Caroline followed him out of the library and into the hallway, where Klaus and Stefan were carrying a still unconscious Rebekah through to the living room.

"Where are you taking her" Kol asked.

"The cellar. Just in case" Klaus said. "They're out in the back yard."

Elena was sitting next to the pool with Elijah and Ric when they arrived outside. Both Bonnie and Caroline rushed over.

"How are you" Caroline asked.

"Hot. Like, burning up" Elena said in a small voice. "I feel like my head is on fire."

"It's the curse" Elijah explained. "Whatever it is, it's going to burn through her in a matter of hours."

"Well, I think we might have a solution" Kol interrupted, handing Elijah the book.

"Mother's grimoire?"

"Mother's magic, mother's cure" Kol said with a shrug. "Bonnie can do the spell."

Elena looked up at Bonnie. "You can."

"I can try" Bonnie said quietly. "I don't think I get the whole thing, but I can say the words and…" She shrugged a little. "We have to try, right?"

Elena nodded.

"We need to get some things together" Kol said as Elijah handed the book back. "Mostly herbs, but there are some unusual things as well."

"Please don't be eye of newt or something" Elena feebly joked,

"I might have some things at my office" Alaric said.

"I'll get them" Damon offered. He had been keeping his distance until now. "Stefan will come to. Text us whatever you need."

"Thank you" Bonnie said quietly.

"Alright, let's get to work" Caroline said in a would-be chipper voice.

Alaric, Elijah and Kol worked on the translation of the spell and the ingredients for the potion while Bonnie and Caroline stayed with Elena.

"You need something" Caroline asked quietly.

Elena ran a sweaty hand across her forehead. "I'll be okay. Where's Jeremy?"

"He went with Damon and Stefan to get the things from Alaric's office. Klaus is rummaging through the house looking for things too" Caroline said.

"You sure you can do this, Bon? I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't think about that now, it'll be fine" Bonnie whispered.

"And then we are going to take care of the Original Witch Bitch once and for all" Caroline wowed. "I'm so sick of living like this, wondering if every day is going to be our last."

Bonnie nodded. "We could go somewhere nice, after graduation. Like Rome."

"Or Paris" Caroline suggested. "I've always wanted to go to Paris."

Elena nodded slowly. "Sounds nice."

"It will be" Caroline said sternly. "We'll need to find a babysitter for the little guy, but we'll work it out. And then there's college and…" Caroline met Bonnie's eyes. None of them had actually applied for college, with everything that had happened, college had seemed like such an unobtainable goal for them. Bonnie was honestly surprised she had even made it this far.

"College" Elena muttered.

"Caroline is going to make sure we'll be roommates, right Care" Bonnie said, playing along.

"Of course" Caroline agreed. "Well have so much fun."

"Sounds nice" Elena muttered, closing her eyes.

Caroline gave Bonnie a worried look over Elena's head. "Lena?"

"Hmm…"

"She's burning up" Caroline said, gently touching Elena's forehead.

"Alaric" Bonnie called. "I think she's getting worse."

Both Alaric and Elijah joined them immediately. Elijah touched Elena's forehead like Caroline had. "We need to do something now."

"Kol almost has the spell down" Alaric said. "Why don't you go have a look" he suggested to Bonnie, who nodded.

"We have to get her temperature down" Elijah said. "Get her up."

"What are you going to do" Caroline asked.

Alaric and Elijah gently made Elena stand and then Elijah swiftly picked her up and walked to the pool. "Tell Damon and Stefan to hurry" he ordered as he lowered himself and Elena into the pool.

Bonnie looked at Kol. "Can I do this?"

"I think so" he said without looking up. "There, this is the spell. Nik and I can do the potion, it looks fairly simple." He handed her a piece of paper with an oddly neat writing on it. "Start practicing."

She nodded and started to go over the words in her head and what she needed to do. The words weren't that hard, it was the amount of power needed. Maybe if Grams or Abby were still around, she had done harder spells with Grams and Luka had shown her how to draw powers from nature, but everything had felt shut off for her since Abby had died. And there didn't seem to be any natural happenings going on that she could draw her power from. She closed her eyes and went over the spell again.

Damon and Stefan arrived soon after, Jeremy hot on their heels, carrying different things. "I think we got it all" Damon said.

Kol nodded. "Get Nik, we need to get this together now."

The group gathered around the pool as Alaric helped Elena out of the pool and sat down with her. He looked at Bonnie. "Whenever you're ready."

She nodded a little and started the spell, feeling the magic flow through her. It didn't last long, though. She tried again, but it still felt wrong.

"What's wrong" Caroline asked.

"I can't do it, I need something to draw on" Bonnie explained.

"Come on" Damon snapped. "Of course you can do it, just snap out of whatever funk you're in."

"I can't just snap my fingers and make it work" Bonnie hissed at him. "Magic doesn't work like that."

"Me" Kol said. They all turned to stare at him. "I'm magic, magic made me, all of us. You can draw on me."

Bonnie frowned and looked at his outstretched hand.

"That might actually work" Klaus said, also looking at his brother. He turned to look at Elijah, who was also frowning.

"We're not magical beings" Elijah said slowly.

"But Mother made us with magic" Kol argued. "We might not be able to do anything ourselves, but a witch can draw power from us."

Klaus' frown deepened. "Have you done this before?"

"Once" Kol admitted. He turned back to Bonnie and offered his hand again.

"Alright" she said, taking it. She took a deep breath and started the spell again. It felt different now, she could feel the magic pulsating between them. It didn't feel like the kind of magic she had done with Grams or even Abby, this was darker and a lot harder to control, but she could do it. Beside her, Kol started to cough, but he didn't let go and Bonnie kept going with the spell. It looked like Elena was falling in and out of consciousness and Caroline and Klaus were trading dark looks. Bonnie faltered a little when she felt Kol move and saw him drop to first one knee and then other, his skin a grayish pale color.

"Keep going" he ordered her in a raspy voice and she quickly picked up again, hoping the spell would work soon.

Elena suddenly gasped and shuttered and started to cough. Elijah quickly snapped his fingers at his brother. "The potion!" Klaus handed it to him and he all but forced it down Elena's throat as Bonnie's chanting ended. The second the last word had left her mouth, Kol let go of her hand and toppled over completely.

"Did it work" Caroline asked anxiously.

"I think so" Alaric said, touching Elena's forehead. "She feels a little cooler now, but we should call Meredith just in case."

"Kol" Klaus asked, kneeling down next to his brother.

"Is he dead" Bonnie asked quietly. She had taken a step back, scared at the power she had felt surge through her.

"Out for the moment, I think" Klaus said, squatting down next to his brother. He looked worried, though.

"Did it work" Elena suddenly croaked.

"We think so" Alaric said. "I'll call Meredith just to make sure."

"We should get you inside and into something dry" Caroline said, helping Elena up. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I…" Elena faltered a little. Elijah easily lifted her up.

"Guess not" Caroline said.

"Rebekah should have something that will fit" Elijah said.

"Coming, Bonnie" Caroline asked over her shoulder.

"Go. I'll look after him" Klaus said and Bonnie nervously scurried after Caroline.

"It looks like Barbie lives here" Caroline muttered as Elijah sat Elena down on the bed and then quietly left the room. "How are you, Lena?"

"A little better, I think" Elena said in a slurred voice. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, we think so" Bonnie said. "But Alaric is calling Meredith just be sure."

"I knew you could do it" Elena said and gave a sloppy smile. "Why am I wet?"

Caroline started to unceremoniously rummage through Rebekah's closet to find something Elena could wear.

"I had a little help" Bonnie said quietly.

Caroline found a pair of sweats and a tank top, which made Bonnie curious about what Rebekah looked like when she was home alone, and they helped Elena out of the wet clothes and into the more comfortable, dry ones.

"Better" Caroline asked.

"Much" Elena said. "Guess this kind of put a damper on Thanksgiving, huh?"

"Well, now we definitely have something to be thankful for" Caroline said.

"We should go downstairs, Alaric has probably talked to Meredith now" Bonnie suggested.

"Is this Rebekah's" Elena asked, looking at the pink tank top she was wearing.

"Yeah. If being possessed by Esther doesn't kill her, knowing you're wearing her fluffy sweatpants and pink tank top probably will" Bonnie said.

"Please tell me it doesn't say "juicy" on my ass" Elena moaned.

Caroline burst into laughter and hugged Elena. "I love you, Lena. Juicy ass or not."

"Me too" Bonnie said, joining the hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Guess I should probably talk to Meredith for an all clear before we start celebrating, though?"

The three girls walked down the stairs in a slow pace, Caroline hovering close to Elena just in case. The others were congregated in the library, obviously fighting. They all turned quiet when Caroline opened the door and let them in.

"Meredith will be here shortly" Alaric finally said, breaking the silence.

"Good" Elene said, her voice a little hoarse.

"How are you feeling" Elijah asked. It looked like he wanted to go to her, but was obviously holding himself back, perhaps not comfortable with showing affection in front of people. Or maybe it was because he didn't know how affectionate he was allowed to be. Bonnie frowned a little at that realization.

"Okay, I guess" Elena answered. "A little tired."

"Jeremy, maybe you could help Elena find some food in the kitchen" Alaric suggested.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, but for once he didn't argue, even though it was pretty clear he and Elena were being dismissed. "Sure" he muttered, helping Elena to her feet again.

Elena looked pretty affronted, but was apparently too tired to argue and just let Jeremy lead her out of the library.

"What's going on" Caroline asked, looking around.

Klaus pinched his nose and clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything. Elijah looked upset as well.

"We have a problem" Alaric said.

"Whatever it is" Caroline started….

"It's not really something we can fix" Damon said. He had lost his usual attitude.

Bonnie sat down in the seat Elena had just vacated. She wasn't sure how much more she could handle right now. If her shoulders became burdened with much more, she was sure they would break.

Elijah cleared his throat. "What Esther did… Blood magic… It's something that links family members. It allowed her to possess Rebekah for a short time."

"So we keep Rebekah in the dungeon. Sounds like a win win to me" Caroline said.

"If she can do it to Rebekah, she can do it to all of us" Klaus said.

"What does that mean" Bonnie asked.

"Esther can do what she did to Rebekah to any of us, without anyone knowing" Elijah said.

"And by any of us, you mean" Caroline said.

"Me, Niklaus, Kol and Rebekah."

"But I broke that connection" Bonnie suddenly said.

"No, you broke the link between us" Klaus said, gesturing between himself and his brother. "We're all blood related to Esther and she can use that to posses us."

"And we won't know" Bonnie surmised. It was beginning to dawn on her how dangerous this was.

"Exactly. She can only do it on short intervals and the link can be broken, like we did with Rebekah, but we can't really run around snapping each others necks every other minute of the day" Klaus said.

"So what do we do" Caroline asked.

"We were just discussing that" Alaric told them. "For the time, we believe it's best if we keep our distance from the Originals. All of them. Damon, Stefan and Caroline will take turns looking after Elena and Bonnie."

"What about you, Mr. Saltzman" Bonnie asked. "And Jeremy?"

"Jeremy and I will wear the rings, but we're not the targets. After tonight, I'll stop seeing Meredith, so she won't be involved and you two will explain the situation to Matt and make sure he doesn't become involved as well."

"And you will stop seeing Tyler" Damon told Caroline.

"Well, he dumped me, so that won't be hard" Caroline said sullenly.

"He broke up with you" Klaus asked, his head tilted to the side like a dog who had just been offered a treat.

"Niklaus, please focus" Elijah told him.

"We can't risk him snapping his fangs at you, so stay away" Damon warned.

"For everyone's safety" Alaric added. "Tyler doesn't need to become collateral in this."

"Come on, Barbie and Sabrina, I'll take you home" Damon said, standing up.

Bonnie reluctantly got up. "What about Kol? And Rebekah?" She quickly added to cover up.

"We'll let you know" Elijah said in a final sort of way. Bonnie slumped her shoulders even more, but she simply didn't have it in her to argue further and just let Damon lead her and Caroline out of the door. The drive to Bonnie's house was mercifully quiet and Damon sped off after dropping them off without any more remarks.

"So, Elena's okay" Caroline said with a sigh as she sat down next to Bonnie on the couch. She had been on the phone with both Klaus and Alaric, who had both confirmed that Elena was indeed fine and now sleeping it off.

"That's good" Bonnie muttered into her cup of tea.

"Alaric said he would tell her everything tomorrow" Caroline continued.

"Okay…."

"So, I guess everything is okay again" Caroline said, like she was desperate to fill the awkward silence with something, anything.

"Except for the fact that a crazy witch might possess one of the Originals and kill us all" Bonnie said quietly.

"Except that" Caroline agreed somberly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"No" Bonnie finally admitted. "That felt horrible."

Caroline put her arm around her again. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Bonnie sighed. "And now Damon and Stefan are going to follow us around everywhere we go to make sure someone doesn't kill us."

"I know, but…" Caroline sighed too.

"This just isn't what I imagined whenever I thought about senior year. I thought it was going to be math that killed me, not a thousand year old witch on a murder spree."

"We'll be alright."

"You sure about that, Care? Look at what's already happened? You died! Someone killed you and turned you into a vampire! And Sara, and Vicki, Jenna, Tyler's dad, my mom…" She rubbed her eyes to stop the tears. "It just feels like we're just waiting for our turn now." She swallowed heavily. "Like, who's going to die next."

"That's not how it is…."

"But that's how it feels like, Care" Bonnie said hotly. "And I'm just so sick of it. I hate this, just sitting around waiting for someone to do something. I hate being the magical solution to everything and feeling like a complete failure whenever something happens or someone dies."

"You're not a failure" Caroline assured her.

"I almost killed Kol tonight because I can't do magic by myself. How's that for failure?"

"You saved Elena's life, you saved her baby! I think that's a pretty big win for all of us" Caroline argued. "Whatever Esther is planning, it doesn't matter. The good guys always win."

"I'm not so sure that we're the good guys."

"What? Of course we are!"

"Are we? We have four homicidal Original vampires on our side, a ripper and a sociopath, a malfunctioning witch, a teenage vampire, a history teacher and a former drug addict."

Caroline leaned back in her seat. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"On the other side there's Esther, a powerful witch who just wants to restore balance to nature and her son, who's willing to sacrifice himself to that end. Also, a bunch of werewolves who just want to be left alone to live their lives."

"Now I feel bad too" Caroline muttered. "I understand the logic, I really do, but… It's not wrong to want to be happy and just be alive. Or, as alive as you can be, given the circumstances. Just because Esther is justified, doesn't mean she's right. I don't think the end justifies the means, Bon. She's not just killing Klaus and Rebekah, it's Elijah and Kol too, Stefan and me and every other vampire out there, who's like us. That just doesn't seem right. I don't think I deserve to die."

"Of course you don't, Care" Bonnie quickly said. "That's not what I meant! I just… I'm just so sick of it all. It feels like this will never end, the constant worrying, people dying or getting hurt. Like whenever something good happens, something twice as terrible happens just after."

Caroline rested her head on Bonnie's shoulder. "I know the feeling. But I think we're getting closer to the end now."

"I hope you're right" Bonnie muttered.

When the two girls went to bed that night, Bonnie had trouble falling asleep. She kept tossing and turning and imaging she heard wolves howl out in the night. Only, she wasn't so sure she was just imagining it.