I disclaim. I own nothing.

Chapter 25

"Do I give off some kind of pheromone that makes vampires want to parent me?"

Caroline shook her head sadly. "And there's the sentence that's going to keep us from ever going back to being normal."

"Bunny," Tyler's voice was low and he was smiling despite himself. "When Damon said he wanted to be your daddy, I don't think parenting is what he had in mind."

"It's what I choose to believe." Bonnie mumbled as she stood to pace the room again.

"To be fair," Damon began as he settled into the corner of the couch. "He wants Elena, too. But I think that's more like a fuck you to Katherine. Like I can take someone who looks just like you and make her a better, badder vampire. Plus what better way to bond Bonnie to him, than to take her best friend."

"Wait," Stefan's brow creased in a thoughtful frown, his intense gaze going from Bonnie to Elena. "What did you just say?"

"Don't worry little brother he might want our girls but we won't let him get them, that plan was ours way before-"

"Not that," Stefan cut him off before Elena and Bonnie could look too deeply into that comment. "You said taking Elena would be a way to ensure Bonnie stays with him." His mind was working quickly. "It was a test, getting you to stab yourself was a test."

Noticing that her agitation grew whenever she moved away from Tyler, Bonnie made her way closer to him. Though she couldn't remain still. She wanted to touch him, hold him, have him hold her but there was too much nervous energy inside her. So she settled on pacing behind his chair, running her fingers over the back of his neck with each pass.

"What kind of test?" Elena wanted to know.

"He was testing Bonnie. When did you realize something was wrong with Damon?"

"When I looked at him, I could feel it."

"Would it be the same with Caroline and I?"

Bonnie made a restless movement with her shoulders. "Not really, the blood changes things. With Caroline, I'd have to be with her, be receptive to what she was feeling. With you, it would be like it was with Damon, before that night in the woods, kind of absent in a way."

"If that were Tyler…"

Bonnie chanced a look at Damon, knowing her words would hurt him, and not understanding the guilt she felt because of it. "Immediately. I'd have known the second it happened."

"Would you have to be with him?" Bonnie shook her head, but Stefan seemed to have been expecting that. "And Elena?"

Now the guilt doubled. The secret she and Elena had been keeping, though subconsciously, was coming back on them. Stefan wouldn't like that they were keeping something from him. Caroline would feel left out. And Tyler and Damon would just be upset she shared something with Elena that she didn't have with them. "I, uh, I would say almost, exactly the same. Not entirely, but you know, close enough. That makes sense, right?"

Elena nodded, almost a bit too enthusiastically. "Makes sense to me."

Stefan realized that Bonnie and Elena were acting a little too shifty for such a simple statement. "Bonnie."

"Dad."

Caroline, though she also realized there was something Bonnie and Elena wasn't saying, couldn't help but to laugh at Bonnie's petulant tone. "He does kind of talk to you like a scolding father."

"You should see the way he paces when she goes out at night." Coming up behind her boyfriend, Elena wrapped her arms around his waist. His body was so tense, she couldn't help but to tightened her hold a bit. "He'd tuck her in at night if he could."

"It's more a brotherly concern." Stefan argued. "It's her fault. She's doll-sized, can't help but to worry about her."

"Yeah, she's adorable." Damon waved the whole thing away. "Let's get back to Buffy and Willow's not at all subtle shifty eyes. What are you two hiding?"

"We're not hiding anything." But Elena moved away from Stefan and her stance immediately became defensive.

Feeling the guilt pouring off her in waves, Tyler turned to Bonnie. "Just tell us."

"The night of the party," Bonnie began to explain. Which is the night everything went even more pear-shaped than it already had been and Bonnie didn't think she could be held accountable for leaving out a few minor details considering everything else that happened. "I wanted to try something with Elena. I had been thinking," She began to address Stefan alone. "Ever since that day in the car, I couldn't stop thinking about the links; how and when I could have formed them. Grams always said Ty and I bonded that first day, I couldn't argue with it because that connection between us was always there."

"You're stalling, witch."

It took a moment, as Bonnie had to literally bite her tongue to keep from snapping at Damon, before returning her attention to Stefan. "Like I said, I started thinking, trying to figure out if I could recall exactly when things changed with everyone else. If I could pinpoint when the initial link was made. And when I did, or at least had a pretty good guess, I wondered if I could expand on it, you know. With Elena I thought, come to find out I was right, it was the night we got lost in the woods."

"We were ten," Elena picked up the story. "Care, you were sick, and not there to point out how bad an idea playing hide and seek in the woods was." Mainly because they would get their clothes dirty, but she'd have been the voice of reason. "We were so scared. But we did what Grams always told us, held on to each other."

"We kept repeating that poem to each other…I didn't know-"

"The poem worked as a spell." Stefan concluded. "You were young, unaware, so not in control of your magic. Your emotions were out of control, but mostly you were scared. Elena was scared, too."

"I remember feeling that change." Bonnie rubbed a fist over her chest, over the place she felt Elena for as long as she could remember.

"Me, too. I remember being scared that I'd be separated from Bonnie the same way we were separated from Tyler and Matt. Then I was sure, just absolutely sure we'd never be separated."

"This doesn't explain what you're hiding." Caroline snapped out. She'd always known there was something deeper between Elena and Bonnie than what she shared with either girl. And usually, especially lately, she was able to put it aside. It annoyed her to have it thrown in her face. "Can we get back to the night of the party?"

Bonnie wanted to explain to Caroline that a bond existed between them as well. But at this point it would be placating and not at all helpful. "The night of the party, I used the link. I had Elena tap into it, by remembering the night it was created, and I…"

"Elaborated on it." Elena finished, looking to the witch as if to double check her wording.

When Bonnie nodded, Stefan looked between them again. Though he loved both girls, he could admit that talking to them when they were together could honestly be the most frustrating experience in the world.

"Could you elaborate for the rest of us." Tyler demanded when it looked like both girls had finished their explanation.

"It seemed to me, that with vampire hearing being what it is, it would be a plus if we could communicate without being overheard."

"You can read each other's thoughts." Caroline near shrieked.

"I wouldn't say read each other's thoughts so much as communicate telepathically. But," Bonnie continued before anyone could say anything. "It's not like we do. Other than that night, we've hardly done it at all."

"Hardly?" Caroline stressed.

"Once or twice." Elena gave a careless shrug. "But, to put things into perspective, Caroline, you, Bonnie and I have such a good understanding of each other that we rarely have to say anything to begin with. So when Bonnie and I do happen to use our link it's more for…"

"Specifics." Bonnie finished.

"I don't like this." Damon pushed off of the couch. It was just another, stronger, connection she had to someone who wasn't him. It didn't matter that he was prepared to spend the rest of eternity sharing her with Elena to begin with, this was asking a little much of him. "Let's say something happens, we all get separated, the only people who would be able to tell if something happened to you are Tyler and Elena? We need something stronger…you need to make our bond stronger." As it was he couldn't feel her as strongly, wasn't as connected as he'd been after that initial exchange.

Bonnie shook her head adamantly. "I can't do that. I'm not going to do that."

Realizing the tumbler in his hand was in danger of being crushed, Damon set it aside. "Why not?"

"Because she can't take anymore." Stefan answered for her. "The connections may be all to varying degrees, but she has one with each of us. She-"

"Stefan," Bonnie cut him off quickly, afraid he'd reveal too much to his brother.

"What?" Damon looked between Bonnie and Stefan, recognized that there was a secret between them as well. And this one hurt worse, much worse then the one she shared with Elena. Because this was Stefan and she had-

"It's not like that." Bonnie was quick to assure him. "I can practically see the way your mind is working. I love Stefan, but not that way. I wouldn't do that to Tyler or Elena. Hell, at this point I wouldn't even do that to you."

"Than tell me. Tell me what he knows about you that I don't."

"I can't."

Damon's eyes narrowed dangerously, despite Stefan being the one to share her secret, he found himself wanting to kill Tyler. An urge that was reinforced when Bonnie moved quickly to stand between him and the dog. "Does he know?" He pointed an accusing finger at Tyler.

There was no way to answer that correctly. At this point no way to appease Damon. So she said nothing, he was going to blow up one way or another. Bonnie didn't see the point in tipping the scales either way.

"Whatever you can tell Tyler," It was all Damon could do to keep from losing his temper. All he could do to not grab Bonnie, take her away somewhere, away from everyone. "Or Stefan." And that was one bitter pill to swallow. "You can tell me. I'd never do anything to hurt you. You know that."

"Damon," Bonnie approached him slowly, as she would a feral animal. Reaching out, she took both his hands in hers. She could feel the energy pulsing through him. Could feel his helplessness, his fear, his need to do something, anything. "This isn't about whether or not I think you would hurt me." Which she could admit, though it shocked her, she didn't believe he would.

"Then give me the benefit of the doubt. Didn't I do that when you insisted on telling Tyler and Elena what was going on? When you wanted to tell Caroline about us?"

Giving a displeased sigh, Bonnie couldn't keep from brushing a soothing hand over his cheek before backing away. "That was different."

"How?"

Not really having an answer, but tired of this entire conversation, Bonnie turned pleading eyes to Stefan. "A lot has happened this morning, can't we take a break from this for a bit."

When it looked like his brother was going to actually agree, Damon's temper finally snapped. "Take a break? No, we can't take a break, because this is real. It's happening, there is no break."

"Damon," Stefan protested weakly.

"She needs to get serious. We are fucked, okay. If you'd stop coddling her and try talking some actual sense into her, she'd realize that. But you know what, hey, fuck it. What do I know, maybe we should all just stay in fantasy land. That way when Klaus comes to kill the dog, blondie, and probably little Jeremy, because why the fuck not, our utter shock will lessen the blow."

"Fuck you, Damon." Bonnie shot back. There were too many emotions in the room, too much coming at her at once. Damon was the easiest to latch onto, his anger the easiest to take in and throw back. "But I'm handling this the best way I can. As tragic as it may seem, we can't all be Damon Salvatore. Going off half-cocked and making things worse. If you'd been paying attention, you'd realize there is no win here. We can open that tomb, kill every vampire inside while they're weak, make Katherine happy and piss Klaus off in the process. Or we go with Klaus, open the tomb, and hope to maybe talk him out of wanting to play happy families with Elena and I. Which I don't see happening. But by all means lets focus on the fact that I'm not reacting to your liking, or that my bond to Elena is stronger than the one with you, or that I love Tyler or Stefan knows something about me that you don't. Those are all issues that just demand our attention."

"Bunny?"

Not wanting to be 'coddled' as Damon so nicely put it, Bonnie moved away from Tyler's comforting hands. Moved away from all of them. "I'm scared, okay. I'm scared and I don't know what to do. Because if I were to be honest, Klaus actually seems like our best bet. And the fact that I'm thinking along those lines scares the shit out of me. But he wants to kill Katherine and since she already came after us once, I don't really see how helping Klaus is a bad thing."

Recognizing the panic that was rushing through her best friend, Elena ignored the way Bonnie held out her hands as if trying to keep her away. Instead she grabbed the witch by her wrist and held her close. "We can't think like that. We'll come up with something, just don't give up. Please." She didn't know what to do if Bonnie gave up. Bonnie was the Ardelia, Elena didn't know if she could be Bonnie.

Shaking her head, Bonnie shook away Elena's words. "You know what scares me most, Elena?" Not that he'll turn me, that he wants to keep me. It's that I know, for a fact, that when he turns me the first thing I'm going to do is turn everyone in this room who isn't already a vampire. And I'm afraid that when I do, you all will hate me.

Pulling Bonnie closer, Elena locked her arms around her best friend. Holding tight, but still not as tight as she wanted. "I'd never hate you. I couldn't. You're my best friend. My sister."

And what followed, through their link, unheard by anyone else had Bonnie breaking down in sobs in her best friends arms.

"Our ideas, I swear, just get worse and worse."

"Caroline thinks shopping is a bad idea. I don't even need a weather report to know that hell has indeed frozen over."

"First of all," Caroline leaned forward on the bench to glare at Elena. "I don't call spending half an hour in Footlocker shopping. And two, that's not what I meant." What she couldn't figure out is why every time someone said imminent danger, they all left the house.

"We know what you mean." Bonnie assured her friend, but dismissed her all the same. "And we're not talking about it."

"No, we're" She pointed between herself and her two friends. "Not talking about it. The two of you can go over it all you want."

It was going to get worse, Bonnie held no illusions about that. How things could get worse-with both Damon and Caroline bitching at her- remained to be seen, but they hadn't hit bottom quite yet. The full moon was days away, which didn't help with Tyler already on edge. Stefan had gone quiet and nobody knew what the hell he was thinking. And Elena had dropped a bomb on her she knew full well her friend would follow through on. Everything had aligned to make this situation a thousand times worse.

"Matt's here," Bonnie mumbled, she couldn't really recall the last time she hung out with Matt. Thought today wouldn't be one for the record books, but was glad he was here to distract Caroline. And hated herself for using one friend to distract the other. "Hey, I'm going to get cookies. Anybody want?"

"I'll come with you." Elena offered as she glanced over her shoulder at Stefan and Tyler, couldn't figure out how they were still trying on shoes. Didn't know how she missed Stefan's sneaker obsession or if she hadn't and Tyler was adversely rubbing off on him.

"No," She just needed a moment, one moment, away from them. To breathe, to think. "I'll just be right there." Bonnie gestured toward the entrance, to the clear view of the cookie stand. Elena, please. I'm sure Damon's lurking somewhere, it'll be fine.

Elena gave a reluctant sigh. "Come right back."

"With cookies." Bonnie grinned as she made her way out of the store. She figured she had a good two minutes before Stefan and Tyler realized she was missing and flipped. Three before Damon gave up being pissed at her to yell about her being ridiculous and reckless. Everything was going to pot, she may as well have a chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie before it did.

He came up right besides her in line. She saw him from the feet up; black loafers, expensive jeans, and a dark green buttoned down shirt. "Hello, Bonnie."

Her heart skipped a beat, damn near stopped altogether, but Bonnie remained as calm as she could on the outside. "Klaus."

There was a something about him, a calmness that scared her in a way nothing had before. His voice was low, deep, deceptively soothing. And when he smiled, there was nothing menacing about it, he seemed honestly pleased with her.

"You know, I see you with him," Klaus' hand lifted to gesture absently to the store behind them. "And I can't help but think you can do so much better."

"You go near him and I'll-"

"Ah," He cut her off, slipping an arm around her waist to pull her closer. "That kind of language can't be used in a crowd. Take a walk with me, you'll get your cookie. I promise."

"That makes this all better." Elena, he's here. As Bonnie allowed him to lead her to one of the small tables running along side the wall, she hoped to God her best friend got her message to keep everyone back.

"I'm glad you agreed to sit down with me, Bonnie."

"I had a choice?"

He leaned across the small table, effectively shutting out everyone and everything around them. "Always. I'd never hurt you. Believe it or not, I want to help you. Protect you."

Her disbelief must have registered quite clearly on her face, because he smiled and continued on in a low calm tone.

"It's true. Really, what have I done so far to cause you any harm?"

The fact that he had a point was what worried her. He compelled Damon, sure, but he could have killed him. Could have compelled Damon to hurt one of them. But he hadn't. "Why? Why would you protect me? Just to get me to open the tomb?" Although Bonnie had to admit she much preferred his way of doing things as compared to Katherine.

"Not just. The truth is Bonnie, you are the image of someone I once held very dear to me."

Bonnie frowned at this, not being able to picture anyone on the Bennett side she even held a fleeting resemblance to.

"You know, the Bennett branch is not the only one on your family tree. I knew the Linnet side."

It felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs. "Linnet? You…did you know my mother?" She hated that desperate ting to her voice. Hated that even now she was eager for even the smallest bit of information regarding a woman who so completely disregarded her.

"I did. I cared for her, expected great things from her. But she was weak, of will of mind. When she left you, I was disappointed, but I was still sorry when she died."

And again, Bonnie found herself believing him, hearing and accepting the hint of sorrow in his voice. Because it was more than she ever heard from her father. Her father rarely spoke of her mother and when he did, it was in such a dismissive tone one would have never guessed he shared a life and a child with the woman.

"I don't look like her."

"No, but your grandmother, with too many greats to count. Her name was Cicile and I loved her once, which is why I promised to look after her family. Look after you. She saw you, as Emily had."

"Well, you rank right up there with my other vampire protector."

"Not true. Salvatore has tried to rip you and your boy apart. And that's the absolute last thing I want."

"What?"

"Cicile saw you, in a ring of fire with a large beast at your feet willing to fight and die for you. As a vampire I was intrigued, very intrigued by a young girl who could control the very thing that could kill me. It wasn't until I arrived here, that I observed you, that I realized you can't control all wolves, just him."

"I don't control him. Stop saying it like that, making it sound as though-" Tyler didn't really love her. As if he was only with her because of something she'd done with her magic. She couldn't bare that, simply couldn't.

"But that's not what I mean at all. Bonnie, have you ever wondered why you don't see Tyler's father roaming around as the wolf, why Tyler only spoke of him changing during the full moon."

She hadn't and it wasn't until now that she realized she should have.

"He can only turn during the full moon, just like all other wolves. With the exception of Tyler. Because he imprinted on you, chose you, and had you accept and bond with him in return it makes him stronger. So much stronger than all the others, you make him stronger. He'd be stronger still if he allows the wolf to claim you."

"What do you mean, let his wolf claim me?" Bonnie had thought it was the wolf that imprinted on her, the wolf that started all this to begin with.

"It's the reason you get so possessive, so territorial. The wolf is reacting through you. There's no doubt that you've accepted Tyler, belong to him full out. But I'm will to bet he's never bitten you during the full moon, probably doesn't even allow himself to be inside you. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he can no longer continue to hold back and when he finally does give in, he'll be stronger. He'll make you and the bond you have stronger. Which is why keeping him alive and close to you is important to me."

"So, you won't hurt him. You promise you won't hurt him."

"Bonnie," He placed his hand gently over hers. "I'd never hurt you or take him from you. I'm not Damon, I would never take anything from you that you love."

Just as she was beginning to relax, Bonnie's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you talking about?"

"Ask him." Klaus' head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "For now you need to go, get back to Tyler. Katherine's coming."