As always: special thanks for the feedback. And thanks for just reading.

This chapter was a bit tough to write. I hope it isn't too disjointed. Sometimes he images in my head - including the scene jumps - are difficult to put into words.

We are probably also nearing the end.

...

As the cold tightened its grip on the world, powdering white over every town and city, over fields, and streets, freezing lakes and creeks, Fenris walked out into the open, taking a deep breath.

How he'd missed this. The lack of most smells, the crisp harshness of his surroundings, the wide open spaces. There was a northern feel to it, even here, where he wasn't truly at home.

Soon, though, soon he'd travel across the sea, further up north, and then…

...

He sighed. The new beginning was near, he could feel it. Yet he had to do one last thing first.

Faelan, his last living son, his youngest child, had asked for a meeting.

Word traveled fast in the wolf community, but even faster in an age of cell phones and computers, and Fenris had answered the message quickly. He'd told his youngest that he'd come.

Faelan had let his father know that he was ready to join the army of wolves that Fenris had already amassed. Help he could truly use, seeing as it had proved harder than anticipated to compel and threaten more vampires into joining him. Falean had said he knew a way, and that he wanted to be a part of it all.

But mostly, he was just a lost child that needed his father.

Fenris had wanted to see the place where Faelan lived with his large pack, where they had stayed for the last few centuries, and he'd suggested they meet there; but his son had made a very good argument about it not being safe.

He'd heard that there were people starting to become suspicious. People were allowed to hunt down and kill wolves again, they were no longer under the protection of the almost extinct species. In fact, the counties were now worrying about their increasing numbers and ferocity. But there was one place that had, ironically, popped into Fenris' head when his son had mentioned something during their first ever phone conversation: "We'd need a safe place. I can't risk you getting caught again, father. There's got to be people looking for you specifically, people like the ones that captured you in the first place. - Where was that again? Grove Hill, you said? That's not even all too far from where I am…"

Fenris had chuckled, but he had known his son was right. He was not safe. He may have been the most dangerous being on the planet, yet he still wasn't safe. Immortal, but not invulnerable. He couldn't risk being captured again.

Then, he'd seen it in front of him once more, like second nature: the place his mind still went to when it was quiet: The vault. Surely, the people that were after him wouldn't even think of trying to put him back in a place that he had already escaped once.

"Meet me at a place called the Armory," he'd therefore suggested. He would sent an army to scour the place, just in case, but he was feeling confident that they'd be left alone there.

And that was where he was headed now…

…

Damon licked his lips, testing. He felt pretty normal, all things considering.

"I thought this would somehow be a little more… epic," he stated soberly, but Elena only bit her lip nervously.

He flopped down on the couch again and took a good long sip of his wine when he suddenly felt a funny sensation in his body. He grappled with the collar of his shirt, pulling it down, then the bandages across his neck and throat. He looked over to Elena and they both exchanged a glance before they watched mesmerized as his torn skin began to magically mend itself together.

It wasn't like he wasn't used to seeing his wounds close quickly and as if of their own accord, but this… was different. They could see strands of tissue form and lay themselves over his injury, like an intricate weaving pattern. Everything happened like under a microscope. It was terrific - and terrifying both at the same time.

And then, just as suddenly, it was over and Damon shivered as a new feeling enveloped him. He looked around, took another sip of wine, tasting it on his tongue, frowning.

"A bit dull," he muttered, half to himself, then tried it again. Surely enough, the wine had lost some of its nuances. Or bouquet, or whatever you called it. Damon didn't care.

Suddenly, he jumped up, noticing that his body felt more sluggish, though not sick or anything. Just a bit more… human.

He cocked his head, raising his eyebrows. "Well I guess…" he started, looking to an anxious Elena.

"What?" She asked, and he smiled at her. She patted him down, stroked his throat, his chest, and the sensation made him slightly tingly.

"I guess being human doesn't mean that all senses are less sharp after all," he muttered, his mouth now close to hers, and he pressed his body against her so that she could feel…

Her smile widened, as she let her hand travel down further. "How is that?" She inquired, and he just pulled her against him, hard, the taste of wine on his tongue soon mixing with the saltiness of her mouth as he kissed her deeply, starting to undo her clothes as he did…

"Let me try out my newly healed and human body, gorgeous!" He whispered, then bit her lip lightly and pushed her down on the couch as she looked up to him, all anxiousness gone and replaced by something else.

Anticipation. Want.

…

Caroline was carrying a half sleeping Josie back to bed after an episode of sleep walking when she heard a knock at the door. Someone considerate enough not to wake her kids with the bell, she thought, and that already limited the number of possible nightly visitors dramatically.

Maybe it was Bonnie again, or Elena. Both her friends had been so helpful earlier, with Tyler. When Caroline had felt like she couldn't get through to him, like he used each and everyone of her arguments to throw her history with Klaus back at her, she'd been ready to give up.

Matt hadn't been much help. He had taken Tyler's side, yes, and of course that was good; but he hadn't actually thought about it. Sometimes, being a friend meant making tough decisions. Matt, on the other hand, had used the approach of blind support.

"If he doesn't want it, that's his decision," had been his words, and Caroline was still angry at him for being so blind.

"You weren't there," she'd thrown at him, "you didn't see how he suffered."

He'd looked at her sheepishly, then to Tyler, who had pretended he wasn't even really there. Or maybe his mind had really gone somewhere else at that point. She couldn't really blame him, after the ordeal of the full moon night.

"We can't force him, Care. He and Klaus…"

"This is not about Klaus, for gods' sakes!" She'd suddenly yelled. "This is about your best friend. And how the next full moon could kill him, and not mercifully either! With the injury just splitting open like that, who knows whether it'll ever heal?! He can't do that again, Matt," she'd tried to lower her voice, unwilling to throw the harsh truth back at Tyler for the umpteenth time, "I know he won't do it another time, Matt. No one could go into it knowing what it's like…"

He'd frowned at her, angrily, "Are you trying to tell me he'd just opt out of life instead?"

"I'm not trying to tell you anything. I'm telling you that that is what he wants to do, what he will do. He wants to kill himself rather than let Klaus help him." She had sighed, looking tiredly at him. "He is going to do it, Matt. You know how he is. So while it's great you're on his side, this is not what he needs right now."

"And what would that be?" Matt had challenged, and she'd furrowed her brow, thinking of one last way to sway Matt.

"He needs to know that letting Klaus help him is not giving up, it's not weakness. It's not defeat," she gave him a pointed look. "Suicide, however, is."

"Caroline…"

"I can't let him go again, Matt. I thought I could, before… I let him walk out of my life and I thought I was fine, but it's not true. He did not let his pride get in the way when it came to saving my life back then. So why would he allow that to happen now, when his own life is on the line?"

Matt had sighed, not saying anything for the longest time. She'd been ready to start crying at having to deal with two stubborn guys, when he had suddenly very quietly told her, "He's always loved you more than anything, or anyone, Care. Of course he did whatever it took to get Klaus to save you. The same just doesn't hold true for himself. He doesn't just hate Klaus. He hates who - and what - he himself is... I wish I knew how to help him get over that. Trust me, I've tried..."

He had been spared to elaborate when suddenly the door had opened and Bonnie and Elena had shown up together.

...

She didn't know what exactly they had told Tyler, she didn't know whose words had actually gotten through to him, but while she had waited on the couch, with an empty head and full heart, the three of them, Matt, Bonnie, and Elena, had somehow managed to persuade him to let Klaus turn him into a hybrid after all.

Elena had whispered something in his ear at some point, giving him a hug, and the way he'd answered the gesture had told Caroline it was over, and she could breathe easier again, if with a sudden pang of jealousy at the fact that she hadn't been the one he'd finally listened to.

She'd never tell him how close she'd gotten to just knocking him out and going over to Klaus to make him turn Tyler while he was unconscious.

He'd have hated her, afterward, but he would have lived…

Now, they'd maybe get another chance together.

...

Caroline huffed at the memory, then gently put her sleeping daughter back to bed and tiptoed out of the room and to the front door.

The one person she hadn't anticipated standing in front of it, was Klaus, and she scowled as their gazes met and he smiled at her.

"Hello, love. I hope I didn't wake the kids?"

She huffed, annoyed at both him and herself, because she still couldn't quite deflect his charm, and she held onto the door as if for support.

"Klaus."

"May I come in?" he asked in a quiet voice but didn't quite wait for her to answer. As he stepped across the threshold, he gave her a light kiss on the cheek, then walked past her to the kitchen, opening a few cabinets, helping himself to two glasses. Only now did Caroline realize he had been holding a bottle of wine this whole time, and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you really think I'll just happily sit down and drink a glass of that," she pointed to the bottle with disdain," with you? After what you did to Tyler?"

"I didn't do anything to him, Caroline…" Klaus gave her a look, half amused, like he was explaining something obvious to a child, "he did it to himself."

She felt her anger rise. "You knew this would happen, though, didn't you? It's why you told me he shouldn't be alone."

"See, love? I even warned you." He handed her the glass he'd just filled up and she reluctantly took it. He raised his own and tried the wine, slowly letting it coat his tongue, then swallowing. "It would have been on you to insist he'd let me turn him right there and then. A pretty woman like you… no man could ever withstand you. He'd have said yes. I'd have said yes."

Her face contorted with repressed anger. She didn't want him to see her so riled, but it was hard.

"You could have told me," she finally hissed out.

"I didn't know for sure…"

"Since when has that ever held you back? You should have told me and spared him a night of agony. You… owe him that much, after everything-"

"Owe him?" He interrupted her, chuckling, and it was not a friendly sound. "I don't owe him anything other than my promise of death."

She gave him a look, frowning, and he cocked his head. "He didn't tell you about that, did he? How he came to my hometown to threaten me, kill me… And how I spared his life."

She was perplexed for only a minute before she raised an eyebrow, "How kind of you," she mocked, then drank a large sip of the wine as she watched Klaus' wide smile grow even more. He sat down on a chair, placing his glass on the table in front of him.

"It's good to see you, Caroline," he said in a sudden non-sequitur, a raw melancholy discernible in his voice, and for some reason she found herself smiling at him briefly, before her features hardened again.

"I thought we were friends, Klaus. After everything, I don't know…" She waved a hand, "I thought we were friends…"

He squinted, "Someday, I will be more than that," he said, channeling the words he'd once spoken to her, but she shook her head.

"I love him," she admitted, "He'll do it. He'll let you turn him tomorrow, when Faelan is here. But if you so much as look at him funny or make a joke at his expense or… I swear I'll end you myself. I'll make sure you pay for it somehow. I don't care how all powerful you think you are, I'll find a way…."

"You are gorgeous when you're flushed and angry, Caroline."

Her mouth turned into a thin line. "Don't make fun of everything. I know this is not actually you. You have a different side. You showed me that once, why can't you do it again? What are you so afraid of, huh?"

He gave her a look, suddenly oddly defensive as he got up and slowly pushed the chair back under the table, leaving the empty glass in the middle.

He jerked his head dismissively. "I'll see you tomorrow…"

"I've seen you with Enzo. Is he like, your new confidant now, or your pet? Can you only be real with one person at a time? Is that it? Because I'd be careful, Enzo is not like other…"

"Ah Caroline," he interrupted her, grinning and shaking his head, making his way to the door. She followed him, waiting for an answer, but she already knew she wouldn't get one. When he opened the door, he turned toward her one last time, "Your boyfriend is safe from me, Caroline, as long as he stays away from me once this is over. I have no interest in him anymore."

"You break people and discard them like trash, Klaus. One day one of them will get back at you."

A sincere if wistful smile spread on Klaus' face at hearing her words, and he leaned in close, till she could feel his breath in her hair. "Don't worry, love. I'll already take care of that myself…"

And with one last kiss on her forehead he vanished into the darkness that he'd come from.

…

Caroline sighed, closing the door behind him sheepishly. What she hadn't mentioned to Klaus was that Tyler was spending the night at her place. She had taken him home as if it was the most natural thing in the world - and it had felt like it truly was. He was sleeping upstairs in her bed now, his body and mind still exhausted from his ordeal, and as she was listening to the quiet of the house, she was glad he hadn't heard Klaus.

There was just a light whirring noise coming from the fridge, the gentle snores of a child from upstairs... One child.

She was up the stairs in seconds, poking her head into the twins' shared bedroom, where she only saw one of them sleeping: Josie, her little sleep walker.

But where was her sister? She couldn't quite stifle a rising panic. She tried to tell herself that Klaus would never harm her children - she knew he wouldn't, but there were other dark forces awake in the night and who knew, maybe one of them had followed the Original into her home and to her girls.

Panicking, she rushed from room to room, suddenly stopping short as she heard voices coming from the master bedroom. She made her way over there, slowly, and peeked inside, where she saw the most adorable sight she'd seen in a very long time.

Lizzie was sitting cuddled up against a slightly awkward looking Tyler, who had put one arm around her protectively, while she looked up to him earnestly, asking with obvious concern: "But why are you so sure the man is not a monster?"

"Because your mom would never be friends with a monster or let one into your home. Right?" Tyler replied with a "duh" sort of tone, and the little girl nodded at him.

"But I don't like him," she declared and he frowned at her.

"Why?"

"He hurt you," she said and from wher she stood, hiding, Caroline could see Tyler grimace at how perceptive her daughter was. "I can tell," Lizzie continued, "you didn't look very happy when he showed up."

"Nah. I'm… just not as fond of him as your mom is," he told her but she shook her head, making him look at her curiously.

"Is 'fond' like love?"

"Kind of…"

"Mommy doesn't love him. I can tell when mommy loves someone. Like Josie and me…" She thought for a moment, then added, "And you."

She heard Tyler cough and hid further back behind the wall, not wanting them to see her just yet.

Caroline touched her neck absently. When she had taken Tyler home with her earlier, she had insisted he not be alone. She hadn't wanted him to feel alone and like the third wheel in what was now Matt and Penny's home more than his.

She had hugged him for the longest time after Elena and Bonnie had left, telling him over and over again that all would be alright again soon. That she was there for him. Always.

Then she'd simply taken his hand and told him to come with her. And he had. They had had the cheesiest dinner together with her girls, and she had felt a strange sense of completeness that she had been afraid to even mention to him, or her girls, for fear of ruining it. And now this...

"Well, that's good to hear," Tyler was just saying matter-of-factly, jolting her back to the present, "because I'm sure you love her just as much, right?"

"Uh huh."

"So do I... - Now, do you think we can try and put you back to bed?"

"Still too scary…"

"Okay, how about we read this book to the end and afterward I'll make sure there is no monster in the house and you go back to bed before your mommy finds out. Deal?"

The little girl beamed happily. "Deal," she said and Caroline sighed in the doorway, uncrossing her arms as she decided not to barge in after all.

Tomorrow would be coming soon enough.

…

And it did...

Tomorrow had turned into today. And a small congregation of vampires and wolves had found their way over to Caroline's living room.

The atmosphere was loaded.

Tyler felt himself bristle despite all attempts at telling himself to remain calm.

They had met at Caroline's mostly because it was somewhat of a more neutral place, while still being a bit of a safe haven; unlike his own house, where he didn't feel safe anymore at all, or at home.

He didn't want to do this. He didn't want Klaus freaking Mikaelson anywhere near him, he didn't want to feel his touch on him; especially - and most certainly - he didn't want his fucking teeth in his neck.

But he'd promised Caroline he would allow it. Because he also couldn't do that again: his worst turning experience yet. He'd thought he'd done it all, seen it all. He'd thought he was in some screwed up way if not used to then at least familiar with the pain of becoming a werewolf, but the night of the last full moon had taught him otherwise.

He'd never do that again. So his only options were Klaus, or killing himself, and he knew he couldn't do the latter. Liv didn't die so he could take his own life. He had to repent, atone. For the rest of his life it would be his duty to make her death count, he'd have to be her living reminder, he had to better the world in her name. And taking himself out of the fight would undermine all of that.

He had told Caroline that he'd never wanted any of that. And it was true. But he'd had a choice to end it and out of some strange unknown fear he hadn't gone through with it then. So now he had to live with it.

He looked over to where she was standing, arms crossed in front of her, her little halter top revealing more than was good for him now. He needed to concentrate to not flip out on Klaus, to not jeopardize this.

A hybrid. It would be the end of a lot of his problems, the end of a lot of pain.

But it was also Klaus Mikaelson. Still his nemesis. Still the man that had killed his mom, his pack; the asshole who had fucked his girlfriend. Tyler clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as he saw that very man approach him.

"Ready, teen wolf?" His lip was curled into a smile, his eyes gleaming, and Tyler wished he could just punch that happy triumphant expression out of the other man's face. Instead, he drank the little glass of Elena's blood and glared at the Original with as much contempt as he could muster.

The next thing Tyler knew was that he felt a sharp pain in his neck, then a snap as the world blacked out around him, both familiar and strange faces fading into nothingness in just a split second.

…

Faelan looked from Tyler's crumpled body to Klaus, squinting ever so slightly. A ring of fine wrinkles appeared around his eyes as he did; it was the first time Bonnie noticed that the man was indeed older, older than Klaus, if only in appearance, and she wondered about the strange magic that had made this werewolf stop aging at some point. Was it simply because he was a direct descendant of an almost godlike father?

She exchanged a look with poor Caroline, who stood to the side, looking extremely uncomfortable and worried, then with Enzo, who tightened his grip around her as his gaze locked on hers.

"Once he wakes up he's a hybrid? Immortal like you vampires, yet still with the ability to turn into a wolf," Faelan repeated the words Klaus had said earlier, and the other man nodded somberly.

"How long will it take?" The old wolf asked.

"Not long."

"Let's give him some space," Faelan said, making Caroline look up and at him, surprised and grateful about his show of decency. He made a move of his hand, and the few pack members he'd brought with him retreated.

"Lorenzo, a word?" He said, and Enzo startled at being singled out like that, then nodded and followed him out the door with a quick glance at Bonnie.

She felt cold where he'd left her side, and she quickly wrapped her arms around herself as she walked over to Caroline, who'd kneeled down beside Tyler as soon as the other wolves had exited.

"How are you holding up?" she asked her friend, who nodded wearily just as Elena got there, too, and the friends embraced each other briefly.

"I see Damon is still with us," Bonnie said, grinning, and Elena made a face, then smiled.

"He seems to think he could still die any second, and I told him that's just human life." She turned to Caroline, indicating Tyler on the floor, "Do you think he will be alright?"

Caroline gave her a look, scrunching up her face as she did. "I'm really not sure." She tried to hold back tears as both her friends stooped down to give her sideways hugs, and it was Bonnie who first found some words of comfort.

"Well then, we'll make sure he will be. He got you back, Care. You and him… you've always had a special connection."

"If only Klaus and I had never… I don't think he'll ever forget or get over that. And now he'll have yet another constant reminder-"

Elena held up her hand, "Stop that kind of talking right there, Care. You know what he told me? That he loves you. That you are the reason he came back. You are the reason he's been hanging on all this time. Deep down, he's long forgiven you for whatever you and Klaus had. Look at me and Damon, there's coming back from the craziest things. I mean," she chuckled awkwardly, "do you remember when he snapped Jeremy's neck?"

Caroline nodded, allowing a half smile to cross her features. "At least I didn't personally kill anyone he loved?"

And as she chuckled through some tears, Caroline finally felt Tyler stir…

…

Enzo swaggered out the door, following the wolf and his entourage, as Klaus was leaning in beside him to whisper in his ear.

"What do you think he wants now?"

"A nice little chat?" Enzo suggested, playing along and pretending to try and be inconspicuous.

"Funny, Enzo." Klaus gave him a look, then put his hands behind his back as they kept walking, "I'm serious. He will have his proof in a short little while. Then he'll get his very own hybrid - additional hybrid I should say, seeing as he has you-"

"'I'm not his," Enzo growled in annoyance, but Klaus merely grinned at him.

"Family, my friend. You can't choose them, you just have to live with them somehow. You didn't know what you had when you thought you were all alone. Family makes everything more complicated. It's a good thing to keep some friends around," he winked at Enzo and earned himself a shuttered glare.

It wasn't easy to see through Lorenzo St. John. But Klaus saw a lot of himself in the man, and he felt sympathetic. "Anyway," he continued, "I wonder how it will go from there. He promised he'd lure his dear father back to your family's humble abode-"

"I'd rather you didn't refer to them as my family…" Enzo muttered, his face showing the smallest reaction now, but Klaus' smile only widened.

He was just about to say something, when Faelan suddenly turned around facing them. His face darkened a little when he noticed that Klaus had come along, but he didn't say anything about that.

Enzo subconsciously straightened his shoulders as the man scrutinized him once again, and he cocked his head as a nonverbal question.

"You know this may very well be the last time we see each other?"

Enzo raised his chin, then nodded. Of course he knew. Whatever Faelan's exact plan was, he knew it contained one quite selfless act in that it basically involved him getting locked away with Fenris. Unless they could come up with a way to get Faelan out first. A highly unlikely scenario…

"I'd like to make something clear first. You are one of us now, you've always been - even though we or you didn't know that until very recently - and you always will be. The reason I asked Klaus to turn one of my wolves into a hybrid is not because I don't trust you or don't see you as one of us, it's for the sake of the pack. Someone that's been with us all this time, someone that has grown up among our midst will have their respect right away, and it leaves you to come and go as you please, while the new leader will have to remain with the pack always."

The wolf made a serious face at Enzo and he felt his skin prickle. He almost felt like laughing. Was Faelan trying to apologize to him for not having chosen him as his successor? Enzo hadn't even entertained the idea in his wildest dreams.

"You don't need to explain anything to me," he therefore said, forcing his amusement to stay out of his voice as best as he could, but he could tell that Klaus beside him had caught on to it regardless when the Original smirked at him.

"Well. I wanted to anyways. Know that we hold no grudge for what happened with the locket. Everyone knows you are to be treated as one of us, and you can always come to us if you need to. We are your family, for better or for worse, and while as a vampire you know mostly solitude, you are also a wolf and have a pack behind you now. Don't forget that."

Enzo nodded his thanks, feeling strangely agitated by the man's words. He didn't know how to feel. Faelan was making an effort to make him feel included, and he didn't know what to offer in return.

Suddenly, Faelan directed his attention to Klaus, who had quietly listened. "I believe I can trust you to have an eye on Lorenzo as well? Seeing as no one here better understands what it means to be a hybrid that is first and foremost a vampire?"

"You can. Just like I'll have an eye on whoever you choose to become your new pack leader. As was our deal."

The two men nodded at each other, just as Bonnie appeared in the doorway and Enzo caught her gaze as she jerked her head toward the house.

"We should go back inside," he said, and their little group slowly made their way back to see how Tyler was faring, and to finish their side of the deal.

…

Klaus gave Caroline a nod and a smile when he saw her catch his eye over Tyler's back upon his return. The kid was lucky. That beautiful girl held him as tight as she could, and in that moment, Klaus did know that she meant it. He didn't necessarily understand it - or her - but he understood something about love. And he could tell when he saw it displayed. His smile turned wistful once again as he forced himself to look away and over to Faelan.

"So… who is the lucky wolf that gets my treatment next?" he asked, and Faelan had a young man step forward that Klaus had seen before. It was the same kid he'd seen back at the Armory, with the witch. He squinted at the guy, who slightly bristled in turn.

"My son," Maeve suddenly said from behind him, next to Faelan, and as Klaus caught the way she possessively put a hand on the old wolf's arm, another piece of the puzzle fell in place, and he nudged Enzo beside him lightly to clue him in on his little discovery.

It might have meant nothing. It might have been of no consequence, but it was always good to stay on top of your knowledge…

Enzo's face remained closed off, but Klaus knew he'd made the connection as well.

"Ready when you are," he chirped and gave the poor kid a cheerful pat on the shoulder before he went over to get another sample of Elena Gilbert's blood...

…

It was dark outside. It was dark a lot lately, Bonnie thought, as if the days were preparing to come to an end and make room for an all encompassing night. She shivered at the thought. She had been practicing spells with Maeve for almost a month now, and she still didn't feel confident it would work in the end.

They had found ways to generate more magic. They had even persuaded a very reluctant Alaric and Caroline to let their twins help siphon even more magic and thus help Bonnie when the day would come. But she just didn't feel as confident as she'd wished.

She cursed her new nature yet again. She didn't hate being a vampire as much as she'd thought. In fact, with every new day she was slowly starting to cherish her sharpened senses more, and the fact that she wasn't so vulnerable anymore. But she'd lost a big part of herself when she'd lost her magic, and it pained her to be reminded of that so constantly while they were preparing for their big task.

Maybe it would get easier once Fenris was gone and she could stay away from magic some more.

If they'd succeed…

"Come to bed, love."

Enzo stood leaning against the wall next to the staircase, taking her in as she was going over their plan and the needed spell for what was easily the hundredth time today.

"I can't. I'm … Maeve said in two days it will definitely be the day and I'm just not sure we can do it."

He smiled a small smile at her, then slowly approached her from behind, finally putting his arms around her as she was till pouring over the book in front of her. She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. It felt so good to have him close.

"Come to bed…"

She bit her lip. She knew he had been busy, too, those last couple of weeks. It had been his job to go out and recruit as many vampires as possible to aide their cause. With Klaus in tow, and Faelan's new hybrid leader, they'd roamed the whole country in search of more allies.

She remembered how Damon had showed up at her door one day, upset and cranky like a toddler that he hadn't been invited to come with them, and she'd had to remind him of the fact that he was now human - and had the cure in him - and that he should try to stay away from vampires.

He'd raised his eyebrows, "You mean like you?"

She'd rolled her eyes, but smiled. "From the ones that are not your friends."

"I'm not sure," he'd mused, "Does that include or exclude Enzo? Because last thing I thought, we were friends and then he takes off with that darn Original douchebag without even telling me. Even freaking Tyler Lockwood gets to be part of their recruiting mission, but I-"

"Tyler is a hybrid now, Damon. Of course he's a part of this. We need all the vampires and wolves we can to fight off Fenris' army. Just locking him up might save the world, but it won't stop the fights. There is a war about to break out, Damon. You know we can't risk you getting killed. You and Elena, you need to stay out of this, it's not your fight anymore. And I need to know you guys are safe."

He'd sulked as she'd passionately made her point, but then he'd nodded. And given her a light kiss on the head. "Can't argue with the latter half of your statement. Though you should know: a fight my friends engage in will always be my fight too," he'd given her one last look then had walked out the door with a tip of his invisible hat, "Excuse me while I now go over to my new pal Matt, who I'm sure has some helpful tips on how to survive feeling so horribly helpless as a human among vampire friends." He'd smirked at her and she had smirked right back.

…

She sighed at the memory. He was right of course. Besides, there were a lot of lives on the line, humans first and foremost among them. They were the most vulnerable in the equation.

"Bonnie."

Enzo jolted her out of her musings once again. His breath against her neck a welcoming warmth that made her shiver. Slowly, she turned around.

"I'm scared," she simply said before hugging him fiercely, glad she felt his strong hand against her spine.

"I know. Me too."

She pulled away a little, raising an eyebrow in doubt. She almost laughed. "You?"

He frowned before a smile curled his lips upward ever so slightly. "Of course. What did you think? The world is about to end and it's on us to save it. My fiancée is putting her life on the line to cage the most dangerous thing we've ever encountered. And for the first time in all my life I actually got something to lose. Everything. And I'm terrified."

He looked so earnest and sincere that she just had to hug him as tight as possible. There was this beautiful strong and handsome man, and she was the reason why he was afraid.

Their lives hadn't been easy. They'd both suffered pain beyond anything anyone should ever experience. They'd suffered loss. Bonnie didn't know how she'd survived until now. How she'd survived the deaths of loved ones, how she had survived feeling like there would never be anyone to give her heart to again, because her heart had died along with the people she had lost.

And then she had found love again. She hadn't wanted it, she hadn't looked for it. She had been so annoyed when it had first crept into her life, when obnoxious cocky, always annoyingly flirty "knock-off Damon" had suddenly taken on traits of his own in her mind. When she had found herself thinking about him, worrying about him: Lorenzo St. John…

He had healed her heart piece by piece, slowly, but gradually, and now here they were.

"You're never gonna lose me, Enzo St. John," she whispered. "Even if..."

"Sh…," he made, trying to keep her from continuing, and she could finally see just how vulnerable she had made him by coming into his life. She smiled at him, melancholically.

"It's alright, love," he muttered, still holding her tight, sweeping a hand over her cheek in a loving tender gesture, "I just want you to know that I love you. I love you, Bonnie Bennett, and you made everything worth it. I'd fight for that - for you - always. But I'd rather just live with you."

He kissed her, passionately, and she let herself wallow in his touch, closing her eyes and letting go, before they eventually broke apart and stared at each other.

"Just two more days," she said, "Three tops. And then it's over. Right?" She knew it was wishful thinking at this point. She tried not to think about the fact that her and Maeve's spell was still not quite working, or that Enzo would leave tomorrow to finally begin executing the last phase of their great battle plans. But maybe saying those words to him, believing them, would give her the strength and determination to see it all through.

He nodded, not looking at her anymore, his head to the side so she could see his jaw muscles work like they always did when he was trying to suppress something. He didn't say a word.

Gently, she cupped his cheek, pulling his face toward her, and she gave him an intent look. "I love you, Enzo," she whispered, her body pressed against his, and finally, she was the one to gently steer him in the direction of their bedroom.