Chapter 21

AN: I really love the reviews. The reviews are like an emotional roller coaster. I went from being disheartened by this story being called "nonsense" and being uplifted when it was called, and I quote, "Way too awesome." I actually told my husband that while I love writing fan fiction and there are some stories I am more proud of than over others, this one that I can honestly say that I really put my heart into every single chapter.

8888888

"Out of all the places for the spawn of Satan to hang out, Klaus the Terrible actually chose this dump?" Kai mumbled as he exited Damon's vehicle while observing their surroundings unimpressed.

Stepping out of the driver side of the car and slamming the door firmly, Damon narrowed his pale blue eyes feeling uneasy as he silently judged the environment. He knew Klaus well enough to know that the surly and arrogant hybrid was accustomed to more expensive and lavish surroundings, so he couldn't understand why Klaus had chosen such a disgusting location to hide out at. Advancing towards the motel slowly, Damon felt a mixture of frustration and anger. He realized that, without a specific room to locate Klaus and Bonnie, they were basically operating helpless. Even though Damon wanted to confront Klaus by catching him off guard, the seething vampire had absolutely no problem with going door to door and ripping rooms apart until he found the Bennett witch. He didn't give a damn about the innocent life's that would be endangered or ended during his frantic search. Nothing was going to stand in his way of finding and protecting the woman he loved.

"Do you know what is ironic? Bonnie has this whole group of besties that are more than capable of looking after her well being, but the two men that she had hated more than anything in this world is currently chasing her in order to make sure that she doesn't get herself killed," Kai revealed casting a brief smile in the brooding vampire's direction.

Damon bristled noticeably as he shoved his hands inside the pockets of his leather jacket, before slowly turning to face the Gemini warlock.

"I have always led the charge for finding ways to save Bon Bon. I am a weathered veteran in this hardened battle to keep Bonnie safe and sound. You are just a rookie and very inexperienced when it comes to knowing what she needs and how she needs it," he said bluntly, "Take my advice and know your role and shut your mouth."

Kai smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Don't act self righteous with me, Damon. We both know that the only reason why you played savior to Bonnie all of these years was so that you could earn brownie points with her best friend. Unlike you, it didn't take me falling in love with boring and bland Elena Gilbert in order for me to realize that Bonnie is worth sacrificing everything for," Kai said evenly.

Feeling red hot anger surge through him, Damon prepared to snap back at Kai when flashes of the events that had taken place earlier that evening caused the words to die on his lips.

As he recalled everything that had transpired between Bonnie, Stefan, Elena and Caroline, Damon began to feel both guilty and angry. As much as it pissed him off to even admit, the jam eating man child warlock Kai, had a point. When Elena had verbally lashed out and assaulted Bonnie, Damon's first instinct was to come to the Bennett witch's defense, but he had hesitated. He had stood back and done nothing as he watched the former love of his life assault the woman that he currently loved. He knew that if he had intervened, he would have officially acknowledged that his loyalty and feelings had changed and he knew that coming to Bonnie's aide would have deeply wounded Elena which was the last thing that Damon wanted.

As he realized that he was still putting Elena first, Damon swallowed with great difficulty. While he didn't want to hurt Elena any more than he already had, he knew that it was inevitable that she would feel pain over his relationship with Bonnie. She deserved a man who was willing to step up, support and stand in solidarity with her and realizing that he had failed to do that, Damon felt an emotion that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Shame.

Damon had spent so much time telling Bonnie that she shouldn't always make Elena her main priority over happiness, but he had found himself overwhelmed with hypocrisy. He had found himself more concerned with Elena's feelings, instead of having Bonnie's back when Elena had turned on her out of hurt and anger. Narrowing his eyes with steely determination, Damon made a promise to himself that night that once they made it through this horror show, he would make it perfectly clear to both Bonnie and Elena who his heart and loyalty belonged to and there wasn't anything that was going to change how he felt.

"How are we suppose to find Bonnie when we don't even have a room number and she won't answer her goddamn phone?" Kai demanded, his eyes flashing with frustration.

Damon sighed heavily, irritation weighing heavily in his voice.

"Really, Kai? You chose now to be completely useless? Can't you do a locator spell to find her specific location?"

The Gemini witch stopped walking and faced the vampire annoyed.

"In order for me to do that, I would need her blood and it's not exactly like I have any at my disposal at the moment."

Well at least not anymore," Damon snorted obnoxiously, "We both know that you only conveniently have access to her blood when are casting a blood spell in order to control her."

"Listen, I know we said that we agreed to not talk about our respective relationships with Bonnie, but if you could refrain from the passive aggressive attacks, that would be nice," Kai growled annoyed.

Damon chuckled amused.

"Ooh, I can see that struck a nerve. Is it because you are still bitter that Bonnie walked away from you? Or could it be the very painful fact of realizing that you will never be the object of her affection? Whatever it is that is bothering you, just know that at least you can rest easy knowing that I plan on making her happy in every... way... possible," Damon promised with a sensual look in his pale blue eyes.

Rolling his eyes, Kai feigned a smile as he struggled to keep from getting agitated and confrontational. The vampire was so possessive of Bonnie that it physically made him sick to his stomach. While a big part of Kai was jealous over the fact that Damon and Bonnie had chemistry and a relationship that he would never be able to compete with, he could only hope that Damon was more interested in being a good companion for Bonnie rather than winning some non existent competition for her affections.

"I know that you are relishing in the fact that Bonnie will chose you over me, but I hope you really care about her enough to really get to know what she needs and provide it for her," the Gemini warlock said sternly.

Damon chuckled softly before a wicked smile stretched across his lips as he slowly turned and faced Kai who was trailing behind him. He stared him in the eyes for a long moment before finally speaking, his voice soft yet wicked.

"I could stand here and share with you in very vivid detail about my connection with Bonnie Bennett, but you spent four months observing us alone, so you already know this thing between me and her is very real. I have spent several years learning and familiarizing myself with all things Bonnie Bennett. I know how her forehead wrinkles whenever she is annoyed and tired, and every time she witchy migraine me, it's her way of bending him to her will. I know how to make her laugh whenever I say something ridiculously self serving and obnoxious. I know how relax she gets whenever she realizes that, at any given moment, I will do anything to protect her," he said huskily, with a devious gleam in his pale blue eyes, "Everything that there is to know about Bon Bon, I know like I know the back of my hand. Everything from the way she looks, feels, sound, taste and smell...I know. It may be seem unbelievable to you, but one day you will learn that once you truly get to know a woman, mentally, emotionally, and eventually physically, you will truly know intimacy. Unfortunately, you will never know intimacy with her."

Kai stopped walking suddenly, feeling the warm tingling of anger surging through his body. He was trying to be the better man, he was trying to keep Bonnie's happiness in mind, but Damon was making it really hard not to snap. The vampire seemed so smug and arrogant when it came to Bonnie Bennett, that it took everything inside of the Gemini witch not to lash out.

"Listen, before we go any further, I need to make sure that both are on the same page," Damon started.

"I was under the assumption that out only point of chasing after Bonnie is to not only rescue her, but make sure that this creep Klaus will never be able to hurt her or anyone else ever again," Kai said flatly.

When Damon didn't immediately respond, Kai grew suspicious. There was obviously something that the Salvatore vampire wasn't telling him, and the fact that they were preparing to walk into a very dangerous situation with secrets between them didn't sit well with him.

"When we confront Klaus, it's important that we let him believe that we still need his help to save Stefan. If he knows that Stefan is no longer on the verge of dying, he won't hesitate to resort to extreme tactics," the vampire warned quietly,"The only thing that will keep him from killing Bonnie the very second that we bust through that door is if we convince him that Bonnie is more valuable to him alive instead of dead."

"Fine. We let Klaus think Stefan is still on his death bed, we storm in whatever room he is hiding out in, play him for a fool and save Bonnie. We pretend not to care when he goes to drain her and when he dies, this whole nightmare will finally be over," Kai sighed wearily.

"Well, we can't exactly let Kai die," Damon interrupted abruptly.

"What the hell do you mean we can't exactly let him die? He tried to kill your brother, and God only knows what he is doing at Bonnie right now. You really are going to stand there and tell me we are going to let this son of a bitch walk away with his life?" Kai asked in disbelief.

If we let Kai drain Bon Bon's blood and he dies, his psycho siblings Rebecca and Elijah will eventually find out that she is responsible for killing their brother. The last thing Bonnie deserves is spending the rest of her life trying to outrun and hide from two very vindictive original vampires," Damon explained patiently.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Kai pressed, his brow furrowed in concern.

"When we ask for him to spare Bon Bon, he's going to ask for something in exchange. In order to save her, we are going to have to be willing to do whatever he wants," Damon said before starring at Kai with a devious expression on his handsome, pale face, "How far are you willing to go to protect Bon Bon?"

Kai forced a smile as he narrowed his eyes intently.

"I think that I have proven earlier tonight that I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe," he said firmly.

Damon was opening his mouth to lay out his plan when something caught his attention causing a frown to darken his handsome face.

Narrowing his pale blue eyes as he sniffed the warm, and caught the pungent odor drifting through the air. Being a vampire, he found himself both blessed and cursed to have all of his senses intensified, and that included his sense of smell. Not only could he smell trash, pot, scents of sexual activity, but he could also isolate two distinctive scents that both frighted and angered him.

Damon growled quietly as he tilted his head slightly to the right, "I can smell her."

"You can smell her?" Kai inquired dubiously, "You don't think that's' a little bit creepy?"

"Stop...talking," Damon hissed furiously as he moved towards the motel feeling apprehensive.

Seconds later, he felt his heart leap into his throat as his delicate hearing detected the sound of heavy moans and soft sobbing. Catching a whiff of a familiar scent that was a combination of sandalwood and vanilla, Damon felt his heart slowly sink into the pit of his stomach.

"I smell Bonnie and...," Damon trailed off feeling a lump form his throat as his pale blue eyes widened with horror.

"And...what?" Kai asked slowly, having a gut feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

Damon swallowed with difficulty.

"Blood."

888888888

"Rise and shine, little witch."

As Bonnie slowly began to regain consciousness, she found that she was disoriented and her vision was slightly blurred. Moaning softly, her head lolled side to side as she felt burning and agonizing pain surging throughout her entire body. Tears begin to form at the corner of her eyes as Klaus face came into her vision. She noticed that a wicked smile stretched across his slender lips as he clutched a small, but very sharp blade tightly in his right hand. Feeling dizzy and weak, Bonnie struggled to conjure up her magic so that she could defend herself against whatever cruel and twisted intentions Klaus had in store for her, but she failed miserably. Earlier, she had been strong enough to go head to head with the original vampire, but a small moment of fear and apprehension had caused her to falter momentarily which allowed Klaus to overpower hand which was why she was in her current position. Moving slightly, she was horrified to find that she was tied down and bounded to the bed and her clothes had been removed leaving her lying exposed and feeling very uncomfortable and exposed in nothing more than her black lacy bra and panties.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" she demanded, her voice harsh and groggy.

"I am showing you what the consequences are for trying to take me down," he murmured as he slowly dragged the tip of the blade across her shoulder towards her breast plate causing a ribbon of blood to stream slowly from the wound, "You were so desperate to save Stefan's life that you showed absolutely no regards for your own well being, and there lies the biggest mistake that you will ever make.

While Bonnie wanted to cry out in terror, she bit down on her bottom lip before narrowing her olive green eyes in steely determination. She rather suffer in silence before she allowed Klaus one second of seeing her in pain.

"I must say that in all of my years of being a vampire, the one thing that I can say that I never gotten around to is experiencing the true majesty of a Bennett witch," he murmured as he glanced down at her chocolate hued half dressed body with a mild look of appreciation on his handsome face.

"I would rather die before I allowed you to touch me," she spat, forcing herself to fight the nausea surfacing inside of her.

He smirked as he lowered his face towards hers, his lips nearly grazing her ears causing her to shudder in disgust.

"You do know that there are far more terrifying things that are worse than death," he informed seductively as his lips grazed her ears.

"Every moment spent in your disgusting presence constantly reminds me of that, creep," she spat angrily.

A throaty chuckled escaped Klaus lips as he smirked down at the Bennett witch. He could see that she was nervous, but he was slightly impressed by how much determination she had yet to show any signs of fear.

"You are feisty. That is why I believe you have persevered for so long. You have fire and tremendous power, but it's your fear and your lack of self worth that will be the reason why you perish," he revealed sardonically.

He was lowering the knife towards the crotch of her panties when he was distracted by the sound of the door to the room being kicked open violently.

"Get the hell away from her."

Bonnie nearly cried out in sheer relief as her eyes caught the sight of two tall dark figures coming through the door.

Damon froze in the spot he was standing struggling to comprehend the sight that was before him. Bonnie was lying across the small bed in nothing but lacy black bra and panties. Her mocha colored flesh was covered with several deep cuts that ranged from superficial to deep and her olive green eyes were clouded with horror and trauma. Seeing Bonnie injured, suffering and bleeding made Damon want to rip Klaus from limb to limb, but he knew that any sudden movement that he made to aide her would result in Klaus killing her. Seeing the woman he was in love with and considered one of his closest confidant so vulnerable and helpless made him feel so angry that a helpless and strangled cry escaped his lips as he forced himself not to turn away from the violent scene in front of him.

"Well, well, well. Look who managed to show up just in time. I was in the middle of familiarizing myself with every inch of the fascinating Bennett witch," Klaus taunted as he lightly trailed the tip of the blade up towards Bonnie's midsection, "Damon, why don't you and your little friend join me?"

Klaus made a move to stab Bonnie in the chest, when suddenly the weapon flew mysteriously from his hand and slammed securely in the wall behind the original vampire's head.

"If you touch her again, you will die," Kai warned evenly.

"Damon...Kai," Bonnie gasped quietly in excruciating pain, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We are here because we aren't going to let you sacrifice yourself just so that you can saving Stefan's life. We will find another way," Kai informed.

"I see that we have a warlock in our presence," Klaus said with a disturbing calmness in his voice as his eyes sparked with curiosity as he stared at the man standing beside Damon Salvatore, "Kai...is it? If you knew who I was, you would think twice before threatening me."

"I don't give a fuck about who you are," Kai responded angrily, "Let Bonnie go free and you and I guarantee that you I will make it worth your time."

Damon glared at Kai sharply, but kept his mouth shut. He could see that the other man was up to something, and while he had no clue what he was plotting, the vampire was sure that he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"What could I possibly want from you, Kai?" Klaus drawled mockingly as he folded his arms across his chest.

Before Kai could respond, Damon interrupted quickly.

"Don't bother wasting your time with this kid, Klaus. Just let Bon Bon go, and whatever you want, you can have it from me," Damon offered quietly hoping that his apprehension wasn't noticeable.

Ignoring the clearly annoyed vampire, Klaus shifted his eyes from Damon to Kai and moved closer to Kai.

"What exactly is it that you think that you can do for me that you think will make me spare the little worth and be worth my time?" he asked intrigued.

"I have an unique gift as a warlock. I can absorb magic any witch in the world, and make it my own. If you let me...I can wield that power for you and you would never have to worry about any witches standing in your way," Kai said firmly.

Klaus' ice blue eyes widened intrigued. What Kai was offering was very inciting. There were a few powerful witches in New Orleans that he wouldn't mind seeing powerless, and with Kai by his side, he would be able to ensure that any acts of uprising against him while he attempted to regain rule over New Orleans would be suppressed. Starring down at the Bennett witch, he smiled as he watched her small breast heave heavily. He could tell by her shallow breathing, that she was awaiting to hear what her fate would be, and while he had been eager to torture her slowly in every single painful way that was conceivable, he was more intrigued with the new vessel of power that was standing before him.

"As much as I would love to honor my promise to Bonnie to make her suffer a slow, brutal death, I find Kai's offer more worth while. However, I am not a foolish man. I know that Damon is desperate to see the little' witch's life spared, so I will also require a sacrifice from him as well," Klaus stated grinning impishly.

"Anything," Damon growled without a second of hesitation.

"In order for me to turn over the Bennett witch, you have to turn off your humanity," he revealed bluntly.

"What?" Damon whispered hoarsely as he turned pale.

"It's really quite simple. I could take Kai's offer and spare Bonnie's life, but deep down I know that this decision would leave me feeling unsatisfied. If I cannot kill the witch, I will make sure she won't have her happily ever after. Not only will Kai be at my side in New Orleans, but Damon will be back to his old, and vicious true self and Bonnie will be left with nothing," he said evenly as he turned to look at the Bennett witch who was shaking visibly, "Remember when I told you that there were things far worse than death? Try being lonely while looking into the eyes of a man who loves you, but has turned off his feelings."

Damon felt his blood run cold. The choice that Klaus was giving him was abhorrent. Turning off his humanity meant that he would go back to his old ways which would be the person that Bonnie had once hated. The thought of Klaus ultimatum was sick and twisted, that it Damon had to fight back the bile building up in the back of his throat. He and Bonnie had come so far and their relationship had gone from hate to love. To know that everything that they had worked so hard to build was about to come to an end with a simple turn of his humanity switch was devastating. Starring at the Bennett witch and the dismayed look on her face caused his heart to plummet to the pit of his stomach. He knew that by turning of his humanity would break her heart, but he rather shatter her heart into a million pieces rather than watch her die.

"Damon, don't. Please don't do this," Bonnie pleaded tearfully, her voice quiet and ragged, "You have come so far, and have changed for the better. It's not worth it."

"You are worth it, Bon Bon," he said helplessly as he stared at her with adoration and sadness on the surface of his pale blue eyes, "You will always be worth it. This is something I have to in order for you to live, but I promise that I will find my way back to you."

As Bonnie and Damon gazed sadly into each others eyes, Kai watched them silently feeling a mixture of emotions. The selfish part of him wanted to sit back and watch Damon make the sacrifice. With the vampire turning off his humanity, Kai knew that it wouldn't be that hard to escape and slip out of Klaus grip on him and find Bonnie and convince her to run away with him so that they could be safe and sound out of reach of the original vampire's wrath. However, as he witnessed the adoration and the sorrow in Bonnie's tear filled olive green eyes as she silently pleaded with Damon to reconsider, Kai knew that he had to do something to intervene. While what he was planning was risky, and would forever destroy any chances he had of ever being close to Bonnie, he knew that his sacrifice was necessary in order to make her happy.

"Sorry, Damon."

Before the Salvatore vampire could respond, Kai grabbed him by the neck, snapping his vertebra violently causing him to slump to the ground lifelessly.

A horrified gasp escaped Bonnie's lips as she stared at Kai in a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

Klaus blue eyes widened as he laughed appreciatively.

"Can't you see it, Bonnie? Your friend is a very clever witch. He disabled Damon so that he wouldn't have to chose between turning off his humanity to save your life. How honorable and annoyingly sweet," he exclaimed as he observed Kai with deep curiosity, "I can only wonder if he was able to snap his neck before Damon was able to turn of his humanity switch."

Suddenly the original vampire turned towards Kai with a stunned look on his handsome, pale face.

"I can't believe I didn't see it before. You care for the witch," Klaus said incredulously, causing Kai to tense noticeably.

"No offense, but what I feel for Bonnie is none of your fucking business," Kai warned darkly.

Without any warning, Klaus used his supernatural agility and grabbed Bonnie into his arms causing Kai to flinch physically, his handsome face filled with fear and concern. Klaus grinned deviously as the warlock's reaction gave him the answer to this question.

"Well seeing how your feelings for her is none of my business, you shouldn't mind if I had a quick bite to eat before we head to New Orleans," he said slyly.

"Kai, don't let him do this," Bonnie whimpered desperately as she felt Klaus fangs brush up against the smooth curve of her neck gently, "He will kill me!"

Klaus smiled darkly.

"It would be wise for you not to interfere, friend. Any attempt to try to stop me like you stopped Damon, will result with me ripping her head off. Are we clear?" he asked hotly.

Kai ignored the hybrid's statement and glowered at him with nothing short of contempt on his handsome into this situation, Damon had made it perfectly clear that killing Klaus was not an option, but in that brief moment Kai decided that the plan had changed. Klaus had hurt Bonnie, and there was no way in hell that Kai planned on letting the vicious and murderous man leave that room alive. While Kai knew that Klaus death would draw the ire and vengeance of the original vampires's siblings in New Orleans, he didn't knew that if Klaus fed from Bonnie, he would die and would draw the wrath of the original vampire siblings, but Kai didn't care.

Once Klaus was permanently out of the picture, the Gemini warlock had every intention of going to New Orleans and making sure that Klaus's brother and sister knew that Kai was the only one responsible for his death. Even though his plan would more than likely end with his death, Kai knew that this was the only way for him to protect Bonnie and make sure that she remained safe after he was long gone.

"Do what you have to do," Kai relented diverting his eyes away from the Bennett witch, his voice barely above a whisper.

A soft cry tore from Bonnie's lips as Klaus fangs ripped violently into her soft flesh. As he began to drink deeply from her vein, she felt her eyes grow heavy and her body become weak as she was slowly drained. Even though she knew that her blood was tainted and her blood would kill Klaus, she was still paralyzed with fear. What if took him draining every drop of her blood from her body in order for him to get the full affect of the poison? Thinking about not surviving this made her eyes flood with tears. She had look death in the face multiple times before, but she knew that if she perished by the hands of Klaus, her death would be permanent.

Moving slightly, her eyes locked with Kai, and she was startled to find fear and apprehension lurking in his gaze. His handsome face contorted with anger and agony, and she realized that his emotions was out of concern for her. The pain that she was feeling was temporarily forgotten as a weak smile stretched across her slender lips. Seeing how far Kai had been willing to go to sacrifice for her and realizing how much he cared about her made her heart flutter inside of her chest.

Suddenly, the original vampire flew back against the wall screaming in agony as blood poured from the corner of his ears, eyes and nose.

Stumbling forward weakly, Bonnie was so desperate to move out the reach of Klaus that she didn't notice the broken lamp on the floor in her path. As she tripped clumsily, she was falling towards the floor when Kai caught her swiftly, wrapping his arms around her trembling petite body and holding her protectively as she struggled to regain her balance. His pale blue eyes lowered to her lips trembling nervously and he smiled slightly as he lifted his hand and brushed a loose strand of hair off of her his arms slowly lowered back to his side, Bonnie instinctively placed her hands on his chest, feeling her face flood with everything that had transpired that night, it was clear that the chemistry and the desire between them could no longer be denied but the last thing he wanted t think about was his attraction to the Bennett could see the tears clouding her olive green eyes, and while he was glad that she had managed to survive this terrible ordeal in one piece, he could tell that she would be traumatized by everything that has happened to her fore a very long time, maybe forever.

"Stefan," she gasped in pain, as tears streamed down her face, "I was suppose to get Klaus blood to save Stefan and I failed. Damon is going to watch his brother die because I couldn't save him."

Kai mouth parted slightly as he stared at her incredulously. Even when she had just barely escaped the jaws of death, her concern was still for people who fail to reciprocate the same loyalty that she repeatedly showed them. The fact that her heart was still so big and compassionate despite everything that she had been through made him adore her even more. She was everything that he wasn't, and everything that he had hoped that he could be one day. She was special, beautiful and he felt touched and fortunate that he had the pleasure of knowing and being close to her.

Cupping her face in his hands and stared into her eyes, he smiled down at her tenderly.

"Calm down, Bonster. No one is going to die tonight. I was able to to save him," he reassured.

Bonnie eyes widened with surprise and her tears of sorrow quickly became tears of relief. Before she could inquire as to how it was possible, they were interrupted by the sound of Klaus coughing violently.

"You fucking witch...what the hell did you do to me?" he hissed starring up at her in horror and fear.

Even though she was weak and shaking, Bonnie made her way to w here he was curled up on the floor next to the bed, withering in excruciating pain. He was dying slowly and while she would usually feel bad while watching another person suffer, seeing Klaus on the verge of death made her feel an extreme sense of relief.

"Your reign of terror is finally over, Klaus. You will never, ever, be able to harm anyone ever again," she growled victoriously.

Watching Klaus die, Bonnie felt tears of relief and joy stream down her monster that had reeked so much horror and despair in their lives was finally dead and gone.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped slightly and smiled sheepishly as she turned around slowly and faced Kai.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly against her ear as he held her securely against his chest.

Fighting desperately to keep from sobbing hysterically, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face inside the crook of his neck. It was finally over. The bizarre nightmare that she had found herself trapped in for the past week was finally over.

"If it wasn't for you, I would be dead right now. You saved my life," she gasped emotionally as she slowly pulled out of his embrace and stared up at him appreciatively, "Thank you."

"I think that this finally makes us even," he joked causing a ghost of a smile to touch her lips.

As Kai held her, he felt his throat tighten as his hands warm and sticky, and pulling them away from her body, he realized it was her blood. It had briefly escaped her mind that she was wounded and he realized that the only thing that was keeping her standing on her feet was adrenaline. He knew that if she lost anymore blood, she would risk losing consciousness, and there wouldn't be enough time to get her to a hospital. If he was a vampire, he would be able to give her blood so that she could heal, but he was a warlock who only ability was to absorb magic.

Or was it? Recalling the events from earlier that night, he remembered how he had taken magic from both Lily and Stefan Salvatore which meant he was 'charged up', for the lack of a better word. With all the magic coursing through the his body, he wondered if there was some way he could use it to help the Bennett witch. Suddenly he had an idea.

Placing his hands firmly on her shoulders, he stared down into her eyes with a solemn expression on his face.

"Do you trust me, Bonnie?" he asked quietly.

She bit her bottom lip before nodding mutely.

"That's not good enough," he stated softly, "I need to hear you say it."

She blinked surprised as she stared at him speechless at his sudden intensity.

"I trust you, Kai. After everything that has happened tonight, how could I not?" she reassured, "What is this about?"

Feeling his heart flutter nervously in his chest, he slowly moved his face closer to hers. He could feel her tense beneath his touch, but he was pleased and relief when she didn't pull away. His eyes silently asked her for permission to go further, and seconds later, he had captured her lips with his in a slow and deliberate kiss. As she returned his kiss almost shyly, she was surprised when a helpless yet content moan escaped his throat as he deepened the kiss. As he pulled her closer and tangled his fingers through her short hair, he growled helplessly as he tasted tears and blood on her lips. As Bonnie returned his kiss passionately, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her closer feeling his breathing grow shallow and heavy as his desire became increasingly unbearable. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to focus on the task at hand as he transferred his magic into her body. As he deepened the kiss and their energy became more intense, he felt himself growing weaker.

Suddenly, a soft and helpless moan escaped his lips as he felt her grip on him strengthen while his legs buckled causing him to fall away from her and collapse against the opposing wall. His face was extremely pale and his pulse was very weak.

Bonnie pulled back breathing heavily as she stared at him wide eyed.

"Did you feel that?" she murmured in a mixture of awe and confusion, "I just felt this jolt of weird energy. This may sound strange but it feels like I am getting... stronger."

He smiled weakly as he pressed his forehead against hers and cupped her face inside of his hands.

"That's because instead of absorbing your magic, I'm emitting my magic into you. The increase in your power is what's helping you heal faster," he explained quietly as beads of sweat from exertion glistened on his forehead.

"I don't understand," she said quietly ash she reached over and stroked his cheek tenderly, "You are in pain. Why did you give up your magic to heal me when you knew you knew that it would nearly kill you?"

Kai chuckled softly as he struggled to sit up before looking her straight in her tear filled olive green eyes.

"Really, Bonster? You can't look me in my eyes and see the answer to that question?" he murmured with a ghost of a smile as he reached up and brushed tears off her cheek with a gentle stroke of his thumb.

The expression in his face and the thinly veiled confession in his statement made her blush deeply. She had suspected that Kai had some genuine feelings for her, but the way that he was looking at her and touching her revealed that he wanted her in more ways than one and and the realization blew her mind. If someone had told her months earlier that she would find herself torn between two different men who had tried killing her in the past, she would have laughed in their faces. Now that something she had never thought was possible had become her reality, she was left feeling completely emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed. She knew that she was in love with Damon, but after everything that she had witnessed Kai do that night in the name of her well being in safety, she couldn't deny she had strong and very real feelings for him too.

"I don't know what to say," she admitted when she had finally found her voice again, "Thank you."

He smiled faintly.

"I really care you, Bonnie. I want you to know that for every moment that I ever caused you pain, I'm truly sorry. I need you to forgive me," he gasped brokenly as he suddenly feel into his knees in pain.

Feeling alarmed, Bonnie watched as Kai clutched his midsection as he began to cough up blood. She felt guilty that the reason why he was in excruciating pain was because he had decided to use his magic to help heal her, and now it was up to her to help save him.

"Hold on, Kai," she whispered desperately before releasing his hand and crawling over to where Damon was lying unconscious.

Shaking him violently, she began to use her tiny fist to pound on his chest in a blind emotional rage.

When five minutes went by and Damon failed to gain consciousness, Bonnie gave up feeling devastated and defeated. If she couldn't revive Damon so that he could give Kai his blood, there was a good chance that the Gemini warlock would perish and that was something she couldn't let happen.

"Damon, I need you," she mumbled tearfully as she grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly, "You have to wake up!"

"Bonnie, stop," Kai growled causing her sobbing to grow softer as he slowly crawled back towards her ignoring the pain screaming throughout his entire body.

"I'm not going to let you die, Kai," she hissed vehemently.

"Bonnie, please. I need you to listen to me," Kai gurgled coughing up blood as he felt himself growing weaker with each passing second,

"Shh," she whispered tearfully as she stroked his hair comfortingly, "I need you to stay with me," she whispered desperately as she stroked his hair tenderly, "I still need to scream at you for going behind my back and poisoning my blood. I still need to be mad at you for killing the sin eater who saved my soul. I still need you."

Smiling affectionately, he blinked back tears as he reached up and brushed several strands of loose dark hair off of her forehead.

"You can really hold a grudge, you know that?" he taunted huskily as his eyes glazed over with amusement.

Bonnie laughed tearfully and brushed the snot that was gathering at the base of her nose on the sleeve of her forearm.

"The only grudge I will hold against you is if you die," she said firmly.

"I don't have very much time, Bonster," he joked weakly, his face growing very pale, "There is something that I need for you to know, and I need you to stop the water works for exactly sixty seconds so that I can get this off my chest."

Bonnie forced back a deep sob before nodding in compliance.

"I'm listening."

"I never meant for you to feel betrayed by what I did when I cursed your blood. I was only trying to protect you because I knew that a witch living among a group of vampires would always mean that you would be in danger, and I couldn't live with that. I was just trying to make sure that you were safe," he murmured forcing back the waves of pain washing over him, "I'm sorry that the sin eater died, but I had to let it happen because it was the only way that I knew how to take that curse off your soul. You are always so willing to sacrifice for your friends that you don't know what it looks like when a friend makes a sacrifice for you."

As he began to cough up blood, Bonnie realize that he was barely hanging on by a thread and was more than likely to die at any moment. While she never thought in a million years she would find herself torn apart over the thought of Kai dying, here she was on by his side on her knees trying to fall apart as the inevitable was slowly becoming reality.

"Just promise that you will do this one thing for me?" he requested quietly.

She nodded mutely, causing several warm tears to splash across his face.

"Anything," she vowed softly.

"Put yourself first, and be happy," he murmured tenderly, "Promise me that."

Bonnie swallowed back fresh tears as she smiled and clutched his hands tightly.

"I promise."

After one last, heart breaking glance, Kai hand fell away from his face and slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

As Bonnie sat between both men who were unconscious, she realized that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Both men had gone to hell and back and risked everything to save her, but she knew that at the end of the day, she had a difficult decision to make. She could chose to forgive Kai and try rebuilding a new and promising relationship with him, or she could go with the man who always came back for her and he loved her just as much as she loved him. Either way, she knew that after she made her choice, her life would be changed forever, and while she wasn't sure if she was ready for her that to happen, she knew that she was ready to be happy.

The only question was...who would she choose?