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"Kol? I need you to tell me everything you know about blood bonds". Damon's voice rang through the device, making him chuckle and look around the bar he had been in, just outside of Mystic Falls.

"What has my brother done now?" He asked, the amusement clear in his voice as he downed yet another shot, earning a grin from the pretty redhead waitress that had been flirting with him the whole night.

"It's not him, it's Gia. Well, he did kill your father, but it's her fault" Kol tensed at that, feeling the anger rush through him.

"So my bastard brother still walks among the living"

"She saved him, Kol"

"Of course she did, it's part of the bond, she would do anything for her master"

"It's not just that. When I hurt him, she felt it too" Damon said, hearing Kol hiss a small curse. "Tell me what you know, because I'm pretty pissed right now"

"Where is she?"

"Passed out in the dungeons"

"Did you hurt her?" Kol asked menacingly, hearing Damon scoff.

"What do you think? This is Gia we're talking about! She passed out after saving his ass and I took her before he could"

"If she can feel him, that means it's already past the point of a simple sire bond, they're connected"

"Yeah I got that much, how do I break it?"

Kol hesitated, closing his eyes and cursing his brother for the millionth time. He needed to get to a witch, quickly, and continue the work he had started before he was daggered. "You need to bleed her out" Kol said, hearing the sound of something crashing and Damon's voice rising.

"What?"

"Scientifically speaking, it is as if the blood from the opposite person is trying to alter her to replicate its original host, acting as almost a virus, of sorts. She feels loyal to Nik because even though his blood left her system, ingesting it alone changed her. It's partly like a sire bond; she will do whatever she can to keep him safe and happy, even if it means sacrificing her own life for it. To break it, you need to make his blood leave her system completely and her to regenerate her own, meaning, you need to drain her a few times. She'll come back, a succubus can't be drained and die, they regenerate in a few hours, but it's not very pleasant" Kol sighed, running a hand over his face. "Should I come?"

"Klaus is still in town and he's pissed at us for trying to kill him, most likely pissed at you for all the time spent with Gia, so away is the best place you can be"

"Look at us" Kol joked, the bitter tone in his voice evident to Damon. "Both guilty for wanting our brother's girl".

"Only I'd rather you have her than Klaus" Damon added, his disdain for the hybrid clear whenever he spoke about him. "How come I'd never come across a blood bond before?"

"They're quite rare to come by, only not so much with succubi. You see, they tend to bond easily with people, get attached, try to find a mate to make the whole feeding process easier. Call it natural selection or what pleases you, but they are more susceptible to any sort of bond as such. They usually mate for life".

"How do you know so much? It can't be all old age" Damon asked curiously.

"I used to hang around with witches quite often. They knew the most about succubi and even gave me one as a gift, once. But that's a story for another time" Kol explained, thinking back to her. "Call me when it all works out, I'll try not to kill too many people but I'm already growing bored" He said, nearly feeling Damon roll his eyes before the younger vampire hung up.

Damon walked downstairs to see Gia starting to wake up, whimpering in pain. He rushed to her, noticing that her wound wasn't healed and ending up healing it himself by feeding her his blood as he did his best to ignore the intoxicating smell of hers. He was out of the cellar as quickly as he could, leaving her to rest on her own despite the twinge that leaving her in the ground still in her dirty clothes from the night brought to him.

"Hello dear sister?" His smug voice rang through the phone, making her even angrier at him than she thought possible.

"What do you want, Nik?" She answered angrily.

"Daddy's dead. You can come home now, you and Kol".

"And why is that? So you can kill us like you did to mother? Put us back in those boxes you have been carting us around?" She answered angrily, making him stop and roll his eyes.

"It's time for a family reunion. I'm on my way to Elijah and Finn and I was hoping to settle, for good this time" He answered honestly. "Do you happen to know where Gia went?"

"I'd ask Kol" Rebekah said, knowing it would get on her brother's nerves before she hung up, calling her friend to be met with her voicemail. She groaned in distress, leaving the phone back on the table and barging into Kol's temporary room in the house they had compelled themselves in a few days ago. In it, lived an old couple, whose twin sons had moved into college and daughter was already off to some other city, leaving the perfect amount of rooms available for the two originals. "Mikael's dead"

"I know" Kol answered, not looking away from the screen, the picture Gia had taken of them still as his background, like she had set it.

"You knew? And didn't think of telling me?" She asked angrily, the hurt tone in her voice making him frown and look up at her. "Where's Gia?"

"Safe in her house. Why?" He asked, feeling his worry for the girl build up as he thought about Damon and the solution Kol had offered. Certainly the vampire wouldn't drain her in the conventional way for the fear of forming another bond, but he didn't envision Damon bleeding her out either; he cared about the girl too much.

"Really? Then why was Nik asking about her?" She said, Kol pinning her to the wall in a second.

"Because he wants her, Bekah" Kol growled, running a hand through his hair. "According to Damon, she's the reason Nik is still breathing, he forced his way into a blood bond with her" He growled out, watching his sister's eyes widen.

"And you love her, don't you?" she asked, watching him grow even angrier before his scowl was replaced with a sinister smirk.

"You know I don't do the bloody romantics like you do. She's nothing more than a pet, Rebekah. Don't be foolish"

"Are you sure that I am the foolish one?" She scoffed, laughing and shaking her head. "You're an idiot for not admitting it, Kol. We're going back to Mystic Falls". A second later, her neck was snapped and she laid on the floor, Kol sighing and calling Damon back.

"How would you feel about a little reunion?"

She felt exhausted, almost as if she had been without rest for days. When she managed to open her eyes and look around, she saw Kol looking down at her angrily. Doing her best to move, she started to cough violently as she did her best to breathe, the Original tensing up, but not moving an inch. "Kol? What's happening to me?" he heard her strain, whimpering after she finished with another fit of coughs.

"You need to feed, you exhausted yourself saving my bastard brother" He said coldly, his tone making her eyes widen as she looked up at him from her position on the floor, her hand still coated with Mindy's now dried blood, some of it having previously splashed onto her torso, tainting the beautiful gown. The puncture wound that Damon had done to Klaus had healed, but apparently not enough so she didn't feel the pain.

"Why are you here?"

"Damon called. Why did you save him, Gia?" He asked, his voice rising in anger at the girl. He couldn't help the mixture of fury, jealousy and hurt that had come once he knew that not only he wouldn't get to have her to himself, but that she was the one to make it that way, to choose his brother over him as everyone else did.

"I couldn't help it, I just… I couldn't let him die, Kol"

"Yes, you could've. You would betray your own family because of your feelings for my brother? Because of the blood bond?"

"I felt what he was feeling. He was in so much pain, Kol. I had to stop it" She defended, letting out a loud gasp as his fist slammed against the brick wall, tearing a hole through it, big enough so that she could see the small vervain plantation that her father had kept, still alive due to her efforts. She watched him breathe heavily, his face turned to the wall with his eyes closed. She tried to sit up to tend to him, but the pain in her abdomen made her hold back a scream.

At the notice of the small sound, he looked back at her, her eyes expressing so much pain that it nearly hurt her as well. He was next to her and healing her in a second, apologizing repeatedly as she drank more than she should before sitting up slowly, wincing but feeling the wound heal. After he pulled away, she took his hand in hers, noticing the blood that coated the healing gashes and frowning.

"I'm so sorry for hurting you, Kol. I never meant to, I swear-" She was interrupted by him shushing her and pulling her into a hug, feeling a tear of hers drop on his shoulder and closing his eyes as he silently cussed himself for making her cry.

"You're sired to my brother, you couldn't help it, you didn't know what he was doing to you until it was too late. I'll make him pay for it, love. Don't worry". He said, biting into her shoulder and humming in pleasure at the taste of her blood, pulling her closer.

"K-Kol? What are you doing?" She asked, closing her eyes and leaning her head back slightly to grant him better access, her hair now in a messy braid, with more strands out of it than actually held back due to all the commotion of the past few days.

He pulled away with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face, his fangs still out even as the veins under his eyes disappeared. "You taste exquisite, darling" He chuckled as she repeated her question, still feeling the warm buzz that her blood provided for him mix with the general feeling that he always got when he had her around. "If Nik is having his way with controlling you, the least I could do is have the same opportunity, don't you think?" He said, biting into his wrist again to heal the new puncture wounds before helping her stand, noticing that she was still slightly disoriented. "Now, you will shower and as soon as you are done, you are to come back, alright? You'll have to stay here until your uncle figures out how to keep Klaus away from you. I believe it is time to reunite with my big brother for the time being".

Gia obeyed without hesitation, brushing her teeth and showering, basking in the feeling of the strong, hot water against her back before combing her hair, drying it the best she could and wrapping the towel around her body, heading downstairs like Kol had said. She had just gone downstairs when she felt a strange pull, causing her to close her eyes as she tried to concentrate on what it was, hearing the soft whisper of Klaus' voice, almost as if he was in her head. "Invite me in", it said, and so without hesitation, she breathed out a small "Come in" in return, making him smirk and step inside. The two other vampires didn't seem to notice her presence until she walked past them and into the living room, Damon's eyes widening.

"Gia what the hell? Why are you not dressed?"

The girl looked down in confusion, noticing that she only had a towel wrapped around her body and that the two Originals had their eyes glued to her, Klaus with a lustful look in opposition to Kol's humored one. "I told her to get back down as soon as she was finished with her shower, I didn't know it would be this literal- not that I'm complaining, you look stunning, as always, love"

"Why would she obey you, Kol?" Klaus questioned, his mind already fearing the expected answer and making him earn an incredulous look from Damon.

"It wasn't literal, I dried my hair first" she defended, Kol chuckling and Gia turning to Klaus. "What are you doing here?" She asked, walking over to him.

"I came to find my girl and apologize for the bond. It wasn't intentional, love. Not at first, at least".

He heard her sigh before nodding, Damon rushing her to get dressed and making her smile sheepishly before she left the three to talk amongst themselves.

A few moments later she returned in a white summer dress and a denim jacket, Klaus smiling at her and mumbling a small "Beautiful" As he let his phone fall to his side, interrupting whatever conversation he had been having and earning a disgusted look from Damon. "Sit" they both said simultaneously, making the girl raise an eyebrow but sit on the couch beside Kol anyways as he patted the spot, smiling up at her and earning a cold glare from Klaus.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, looking between the three tense originals

"You've been out of it for two days, but on the day that was supposed to be Klausagedon, I called Kol and had him explain a few things to me." Damon elaborated, sitting on the opposing couch while Klaus settled at her other side, making her tense and Damon roll his eyes. Klaus was still tense and glaring daggers at his brother's arm, who was now around Gia's waist, but settled for taking her hand. He had not noticed how jumpy she looked, bouncing her right leg and occasionally biting her lip. The fact that he could tell she was starving and that his presence was affecting her like that, made a proud smirk grace his face.

At Damon's cue, Kol started. "Right, blood bonds. Pesky little things. They're quite rare between humans and vampires or a vampire couple, but not so much with succubi. I think you already know some, don't you?" He turned to Gia, who had been looking up at him at the explanation. His brother didn't seem to miss her hunger either, smirking down at her as she stammered.

"Um… Klaus said that they're like sire bonds but stronger. I I know I have access to feelings and memories and sometimes physical pain"

"Memories?" Klaus asked, Gia looking at him briefly before her eyes shifted down and she nodded, looking almost sad.

"Yes. When you and Mikael were talking, it… triggered something" She explained, trying to be as vague as possible and hearing him lt out a small 'oh' in response.

"You can gain some abilities from the other person if the bond is strong enough, but the loyalty can be... overwhelming"

"I killed someone" She mumbled, her brows furrowed in thought.

"Yes, Mindy. She was one of my hybrids" Klaus clarified after earning a look from the two vampires, Damon sighing and leaning closer, still sitting on the couch.

"She betrayed you" Gia said angrily before her face shifted into one of confusion. "God what is wrong with me" she whispered, leaning her head in her hands. Klaus smiled slightly, running his hands through her silky hair soothingly, feeling her tense slightly. A while had passed before she decided to speak up again, breaking the tense silence that the three vampires had been sitting through with her sweet voice. "Did that happen to you and the girl that you two loved?". The question made Kol tense, Klaus' eyes widening briefly before he hid it.

"What do you know of Brigitte?"

"What Bekah told me. That she was a succubus and you both loved her, until she chose Kol and…" They noticed the way her voice faded, her eyes lingering on Klaus before shifting back down.

"And I ripped her heart out" He finished, watching her nod. "She was nothing like you, in any way. Brigitte was a seductress, you see. She had so much darkness, having been turned in her 20's and living in the species for almost five hundred years, she was used to the killings, the lust".

"She was a manipulative bitch" Kol added with a smirk. "But she was too good in bed to pass". He saw his brother roll his eyes and chuckle, the girl looking between them in confusion.

"If she was so bad, why did you love her?" Gia asked, Damon now answering for her.

"When you're young and stupid, you end up falling for Katherine Pierce and sharing with your brother" He said sarcastically, earning a knowing look from the two vampires. "The bitch types are usually pretty hot, and if she was able to manipulate Originals, she must've been good".

"And then you killed her" Gia added, now looking at Klaus.

"I didn't kill her because she chose Kol, I killed her because I found she had been playing the both of us. She was quite materialistic and since she found vampires to be an easy way to get her feedings and get monetary rewards, she jumped right in. She planned to leave with a sack of Rebekah's best jewels, she never really did like our sister." Klaus paused, looking at Kol as he spoke. "My little brother has quite the temper, and since he had been so madly in love and actually believed that she felt the same, he went on a rampage and killed half of the town and an adjoining village. We had united in France, at the time".

"And it caused me to be daggered by my brother for the first time" Kol finished, giving him a twisted smile.

"How was she able to manipulate you?" Gia asked, now pulling away from Kol slightly so that she could look at him properly, giving him a small reassuring smile when he looked down for an explanation, fearing that she might've grown scared of him due to his actions.

"You really don't know much about your species, now do you?" Klaus asked curiously, watching her shake her head in negation, giving him the cue to continue. "Succubi are extremely powerful beings. Masters of manipulation and mind control, so strong that they can 'compel' vampires, in a way, even originals. They are almost like a siren would be, in mythology, lulling their victims to their own deaths, usually with humans. The sight of one alone and their whole aura can captivate humans; male or female. It's a survival mechanism, to make sure you will always have a way to feed and stay alive. Everything from their voice, their looks, their scent… It's all made to lure their victim in"

"But I can feed on vampire blood, I don't need sex"

He hesitated, his eyes narrowing at Kol before he continued. "Is that how you've managed lately?" He asked, receiving a small nod. "Have you felt more tired than usual lately? Indisposed, less cheery, jumpy, lustful, needy?" He asked, his hand running up her thigh. Her silence, along with how her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing hitched, was enough confirmation to continue. "You feed on a person's life force, their energy. Now a vampire cannot die by the way of draining them, much less an original, but with every passing moment that you refuse to feed, you grow into a ticking time bomb, and whenever you do feed, you might take too much; even out of a vampire" Klaus clarified, watching her sigh and nod.

"She's not doing it with you" Damon interrupted, glaring holes into Klaus' hand, now resting farther up on her inner thigh and making the hybrid offer him another one of his classic dimpled smirks.

"Is that so? I would love to hear what Gia has to say" He said, his hand skipping farther up and noticing her bite her lip hard, earning a groan from Kol at the sight before she jumped up, her breathing heavy and her eyes wide, despite the lust swimming in them before she ran upstairs.

Kol got up and delivered a hard punch to his brother's jaw, growling angrily. "You scared her away, you fool".

I did some editing and decided to separate some chapters, make them shorter, and so I split the big ones, meaning this, instead of being chapter 20, will be chapter 25. Perfectionism and all that.