A few people asked if I was going to keep writing this fic since TVD is so shitty, especially after the finale (which I didn't watch with the exception of the Beremy scenes) and the answer is yes. I'm finishing this up and I have plans on writing another fic, Tonnie based, afterward. Canon sucks, but that doesn't mean fanon has to.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Needs
Tyler opens the refrigerator door, eyes scanning the rows of empty shelves until he finds the blood bags he put there. That's all that's there. No food. He make a mental note to get on that in the morning. It's the same mental note he's been making since he got home, since Bonnie's dad got back into town and politely but sternly asked Tyler to leave.
Three days later there's still no food in the fridge, but he's getting used to waking up in his own bed again. He returns there after sitting in Bonnie's room for a few hours, watching her sleep after a long day at school where he and Caroline continue to compel away any questions about Bonnie's prolonged absence. Tyler sips the blood, thinking that he's probably going to have to start compelling decent grades for himself if he doesn't regain focus.
"You have a beautiful home."
Startled, Tyler drops the bloodbag on the floor where blood spurts to stain the tiles. When he spins around, he finds himself staring at Shane whose legs are working just fine.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tyler demands. "Get out."
Shane shrugs his shoulders and does a loop around the kitchen, his mouth quirking upward into a smile when he sees Tyler's empty fridge. With a quiet thump, Tyler shuts the door. "Get out of my house," he hisses, "or I will take you apart."
Shane laughs outright. "I'd like to see you try, hybrid."
The last time Tyler's brain was exploding was in a bar full of similarly pained vampires, and it was Bonnie pressing the trigger. That made it okay. This is not okay. He's on the floor, trying to see past the colored spots that burst in front of his eyes, clawing at the tiles for something, anything to grab hold of. He feels the bloodbag, feels the plastic tear beneath his fingers, spilling more blood along the floor.
When the pain finally stops, he raises his eyes. Shane's gone, and Klaus stands in his place.
"What are-"
"Allow me to introduce myself," Klaus says, crouching at Tyler's side. "My name is Silas."
Silas who looks like Klaus and Shane. He is Klaus, down to the stupid smirk on his face.
"Why do you look like Klaus?" Tyler asks. "Why did you look like Shane?"
"Because I can," Silas says, "but I thought this visage would be more persuasive to you than that of the professor. I've seen inside your head, a very interesting place to be. You with your guilt and your morality and your rage."
"What do you want?" Tyler asks. He puts as much space between him and Silas as he can, pulling himself to his feet. Silas straightens as well, cocking his head to the side.
"It is truly amazing to me," Silas says, "that a witch of Bonnie Bennett's caliber chooses to surround herself with vermin like you. Vampires, hybrids." He makes a clucking sound with his tongue. "When you were a werewolf at least you could call yourself somewhat human. Now? Not so much."
"Hybrids and vampires were after your time," Tyler says. "What do you know about us?"
"Enough," Silas says, "You feed on blood and human life. You are a monster. I would enjoy nothing more than to crush you into fine pieces."
Then why don't you? Tyler thinks. "I didn't choose this. If I'm a monster then what are you?"
"A witch," Silas says. "As is Bonnie, hence my confusion. A witch, godlike in her power, in love with one of you. It's a real disappointment, but I've found that her questionable taste isn't uncommon." Tyler's about to ask what he means by that, but Silas doesn't let him get that far. "Her unfortunate affections may serve me well, however. She'll do what I need if you ask her."
"She woke you up. That wasn't enough?"
"That's witch business, hybrid," Silas says. "All you need to know is that I need Bonnie."
"You're out of luck," Tyler says, "because I'm not going to ask her anything."
"Yes, you are," Silas says, "because I have something you need."
Tyler lifts his chin defiantly his chin defiantly. "Yeah? What?"
"The cure," Silas says.
"Rebekah has the cure."
"I have Rebekah," he says. "She handed the cure over with incredible willingness when I told her I could return her brothers to her. Finn and Kol. Both dead at the hands of your friends. Less than an hour ago, I put in her possession a coffin containing another brother. It was well hidden though not so well that I couldn't find it. Rebekah said that was part of her deal with Bonnie, but it seems that deal is now moot."
"Bonnie's not going to help you," Tyler repeats, "and I'm not going to tell her to."
"You will," Silas insists. "To kill Klaus you require the cure. And you, Tyler, need to kill Klaus. He's destroyed your life, forced you to send your mother across the country." Tyler swallows a giant lump in his throat. He grips the counter's edge and feels small pieces crumble to the floor where they bounce across the tiles.
"Klaus stripped you of your free will," Silas continues, "and you had to put yourself through endless hours of agonizing transformations to be liberated. Then, just when you were beginning to feel like you had some power again, when you were the Alpha and your pack was happy and free, he murders them and leaves their bodies and their hearts for you to find." Silas ticks them off on his fingers. "Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope. And last not but certainly not least, Kim."
Every time Tyler blinks, he sees them. Silas goes from Klaus to Bryant with his long, blond hair to Lana with her shining curls to Steven with his easy smile to Jack with his countless tattoos then Adrian with the flirtatious grin he'd throw out for anyone but especially Sabrina. Next Silas takes on Cora with her round face and dimpled cheeks, Sabrina and her piercing blue eyes, Chase and his shaved head, the incredibly tall Kevin with the multiple piercings, Casey and her perfectly manicured fingernails and constantly glossed lips, Hope with her slightly uneven bangs. And Kim, with her curls and familiar smirk.
"You need to kill Klaus," Silas says, in Kim's voice, with Kim's face, "and I can give you the cure. In exchange, you get Bonnie to give me what I want. Klaus killed you, too, Tyler. The only reason you're alive today is because she loves you, and she does love you. She'd do anything for you."
Tyler fixes his stare on the floor, refusing to look at Kim now. She isn't in his kitchen, standing a few feet away from him. She's dead and buried at the edge of the property with the rest of the pack. She can't speak to him, can't look at him, can't stand with him. She's dead.
"You took her bracelet to channel her," Tyler says. "Why do you need her if you have it?"
"I need the real thing."
"She's still in her trance," Tyler says.
"Not anymore," Silas says.
It's been almost two weeks since Tyler last spoke to Bonnie. He looks up, hoping Silas will have changed faces, but he hasn't. He's still Kim. "When she comes to you," he says, "you tell her what I've told you. Remind her of your need. She must come to me for details, and she should make it soon. The full moon is in three days. I keep a tight schedule."
"What if we refuse?" Tyler says. "Then what?"
"Then I'll destroy the cure," he says. "Think about it like this, Tyler. You get the cure to kill Klaus, but you'll also get your pack. I'll gladly return them to you if you do this for me."
"So they can live again with you as their master? I don't think so," Tyler says. "They got free of their sirebonds. I'm not going to let you put them on your leash."
Silas shakes his head and Kim's hair brushes against her face as he laughs but it's Kim's laugh Tyler hears. All he wants to do is walk away, to get out of this kitchen, away from Silas and Kim's face and Kim's voice.
"I don't need to force anyone to do anything," Silas says. "I don't need mindless followers. My followers follow because they believe, because they are grateful. Your pack will be free to do whatever it is they want. Even follow you, their Alpha. Talk to Bonnie. Goodnight, Tyler."
Tyler leans against the counter as the man wearing Kim's face leaves the kitchen. When he hears the front door closing, he closes his eyes and tries to stop seeing them. Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope. Kim.
Bonnie's never had this many people in her bedroom at once. Abby, Rudy and Lucy all look at her with matching expressions of concern even as she walks easily around her room, just fine.
"How long's it been?" she asks.
"Twelve days," Abby answers. "More or less."
Bonnie's eyes widen as she turns toward her mirror. "Long time." She meets her dad's gaze in the reflection. "Who were you yelling at? I heard you," she adds when he looks confusedly at her. "Who were you yelling at?"
Rudy puts his hands on his hips and sighs. "Your friends. Jeremy and Elena Gilbert. And your roommate, Tyler Lockwood."
"Why do you have to say their names like you've never met them before?" Bonnie says. "Where is Tyler?" He's not in the house. If he was, he'd be here with the rest of them, and she can't sense him there either.
"I sent him home," Rudy says.
Bonnie wheels around. "You kicked him out?" She looks to Abby who instantly looks away then to Lucy who lifts her shoulders in a helpless shrug as she passes Bonnie a cup of tea. It smells delicious and the cup is warm against her fingers, but she refuses to drink it yet.
"I sent him home," Rudy repeats.
"You kicked him out."
"He shouldn't have been here in the first place," Rudy says. "When I leave I don't expect any boys to take up residence here. Especially not in your bedroom."
Bonnie looks purposefully to Abby. She almost tries to explain, but what would she say? It wasn't like that? It was. Instead she looks down at the brown liquid inside the cup and watches the steam as it rises up to her nose.
Rudy sighs heavily and perches beside her on the bed. "Tyler has a house," he says. "A very big one. He'll be fine. "
He should be with me, Bonnie thinks, remembering the emptiness of the house in her dream. Tyler and Jeremy, both gone.
"That's not what we're concerned with right now though," Abby says, moving forward but still keeping a decent amount of space between her and Rudy. Whatever tactility Bonnie had witnessed between them in her dream is gone. "We're worried about you."
"And Silas," Lucy adds.
"But mostly you," Rudy says. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," Bonnie says. She finally raises the tea to her lips, drinks it down. It's good to taste something, after days of not tasting anything. "I need to talk to Tyler and Jeremy. I have to tell them what happened."
"Tell us what happened," Lucy says from the wall. "You'll see your boys, Bonnie. Just talk to me first. I can help you."
Bonnie turns the cup in her hands as she explains everything. Bonnie's name stirring Silas, his fingers like stone around her hand. She stares down at her wrist as she remembers Silas fingers gently taking the bracelet. "He'll channel me," she realizes. She won't even be able to do anything about it.
"We're working on a way to get it back," Lucy promises. "He couldn't channel you while you were asleep. If he thinks you're still under maybe he won't even try."
"But if he does," Bonnie says, "he'll be able to. How do we find him?"
"I don't know," Lucy admits, "but we'll find a way."
"You shouldn't be finding any ways," Rudy says. Bonnie watches as Lucy points her eyes skyward then to Abby who shakes her head similarly. Witches versus her dad. Magic versus her dad. Just like always. "Whatever Silas is going to do, you shouldn't be the one handling it."
"I'm the one who started it," Bonnie insists. "I made this mess, I woke him up. He needs to be stopped before he can complete the triangle. And I have to stop him. That's why I need Tyler and Jeremy."
Rudy lets out an exasperated sigh. "Bonnie-"
"Where's Shane?" Bonnie asks, looking to Lucy. "He knows about the triangle and the last twelve deaths."
"Missing," Abby says. "He wasn't there when your friends left the island."
"Then he's with Silas," Bonnie says.
"That's what your boys think," Lucy says.
"And we don't know where Rebekah is," Bonnie says, "but she has the cure. That's...good, I guess. Or not good. If she uses it on Klaus then we won't have any way to stop Silas, but if we use it on Silas then we won't be able to kill Klaus." Rudy, Lucy and Abby watch her while she mumbles to herself, on and on. "We have to find them," Bonnie says finally. "All of them. Silas, Shane, Rebekah."
"We've been looking," Lucy says. "We haven't just been sitting on our asses, you know."
"But you haven't found them."
"No," Lucy admits. "Silas may be shielding himself. Shane with him. The Original, I don't know, but I haven't been able to get a read on her. We took some of her things of hers to use for a locator spell. Nothing worked."
"What about Klaus? Have Tyler and Jeremy talked to him at all?"
"Just once," Abby says. " He thinks Rebekah decided to take the cure and leave town. He hasn't seen her either, and we didn't tell him any different." When Bonnie finishes her tea, Abby takes the cup from her, holding it like she just wanted to put something in her hands.
She needs to see Tyler and Jeremy, and she's not going to be able to do that with her estranged parents and Lucy in the room, watching her.
"You all can go back to sleep," Bonnie says. "We'll talk more in the morning." She folds her legs beneath her and tries to look harmless. "Really. I'm okay. I'm just going to look through the grimoires a little bit, see if there's anything we can use."
"Lucy's already been through them dozens of times," Rudy insists.
"But I haven't," Bonnie says. "I'm fine. Go to sleep."
Abby goes without anymore complaining. Rudy follows soon after, and Bonnie wonders what the sleeping arrangements are.
"Lucy, wait," Bonnie says. "Why's my mom so quiet?"
"She's trying to be respectful of your dad," Lucy says. "He's got his parenting hat on so she doesn't want to rock the boat anymore than she already has. We didn't tell him that you guys killed Stefan and Damon. We thought that may be a bit much for him to process. Your mom tried to make him let Tyler stay though. I tried, too, but I don't think telling him that Tyler's a good looking kid helped any." She nudges Bonnie's arm playfully.
"Probably not," Bonnie says, smiling. "I was dreaming. I saw things, but I don't know what they mean."
"Those are witch dreams for you," Lucy says, patting Bonnie's knee. "They have all this information in them, but no one thinks to pass along the decoder ring. What did you see?"
"Grams," Bonnie says. "Stefan and Damon, Kol's line, the ocean, Jeremy and Tyler. They said things, but they didn't make sense."
"Eventually it all makes sense."
Bonnie can remember the dream she had of April and Stefan. She got that one wrong. Very wrong. But in the end, yes, it made sense.
"I'm gonna get some sleep," Lucy says finally. "Don't worry about your friends. I did protective spells on their houses. Silas can break spells, but it's something."
"Thank you."
Lucy smiles and bends down to hug her. "I'm glad you're awake, kiddo."
Bonnie laughs as Lucy pulls away. "Kiddo?"
"I don't know," Lucy says with a wave of her hand. "I thought we were having a moment."
Bonnie laughs down at her hands.
"I'll cover for you," Lucy adds.
"What do you mean?"
She rolls her eyes. "When you go to Tyler's. Just go straight there, okay? Don't linger anywhere."
Bonnie promises not to.
After a fast shower and several minutes spent brushing her teeth, Bonnie appears in front of the Lockwood mansion and rings the doorbell. There's no answer. She feels inside the house, searching for him and comes up with nothing. She widens the scope, searching all of the property, and finds him. She bends her steps toward the burial place of Tyler's pack. She sees Tyler sitting on the ground, where the grass has grown some over where the hybrids lie.
"Tyler?"
When he turns, he doesn't look surprised to see her. He stands to kiss her and wraps his arms around her, pulling her in close. "I'm so glad to see you," he says into her ear. "I missed you." He pulls away and gives her a once over. "How do you feel?"
"Good," she assures him. "I'm sorry about my dad."
"Don't worry about it."
"He'll be gone again soon and you can come back," she promises. "There's always some important work thing." She reaches for his hand. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was just talking to them," Tyler says, shrugging his shoulders. He takes in a breath like he's steeling himself for something. "Silas was here."
"What?"
"He left like twenty minutes ago," Tyler says. "He-"
"Lucy said she did protective spells."
"She did," Tyler says. "They didn't hold up, I guess." He opens his mouth to continue, but she cuts him off again.
"You have to come back to my house," she says. "You're not safe here by yourself. I'll tell my dad and it doesn't matter what he says-"
"Bonnie," Tyler says gentle but forceful, "your dad will kill me. We have to talk to Jeremy anyway. This is big. Silas has the cure, and he'll give it to us if you help him."
"Help him with what?"
"He didn't specify," Tyler says, "but I assume he needs help with the massacre or the whole raising the dead thing or something. He needs you to do it, and if you do he'll give us the cure so we can kill Klaus."
"He said that?"
"Yes."
"How did he get-"
"Rebekah wants him to bring Kol and Finn back," Tyler explains. "He already found Elijah's coffin for her."
"Did he open it?" Bonnie asks urgently. She doesn't think they have the ability to take on Elijah right now, too.
"No," Tyler says. "Well, he didn't say he did. I think we're okay on that front at least."
"We have to talk to Jeremy," Bonnie says. "We have to tell him. And I have to tell you what happened in the tomb." She sighs. "There's so much we have to talk about."
Tyler reaches for his phone. "I'll call him."
"No," Bonnie says. "We should talk in person." She squeezes his fingers and pictures Jeremy's room.
"Gilbert."
"Gilbert, get up."
Jeremy opens his eyes and jumps when he sees Tyler's face hovering over him. "Jesus," he says, sitting up against the headboard while Tyler rolls his eyes at his display. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
It takes him a moment to notice Bonnie sitting on the end of the bed, upright, awake and smiling at him. But once he does it doesn't take him any time to fling an arm around her neck, pulling her to him. "You're back."
"Yeah," she says, as he pulls away. "I'm fine, I feel fine, all that."
"Good," Jeremy says before planting a kiss on her lips. "I missed you. We both missed you."
"I missed you, too," Bonnie says. He kisses her again and feels her smiling beneath his mouth. She looks so...okay.
"Now that we're all caught up," Tyler says. "We have news."
First Bonnie tells them what happened with Silas and Aja and then she tries to explain the dream she had in her trance, but she gets frustrated partway through and gives up. "It was complicated," she says. "There were circles and oceans and Stefan and Damon were there."
"That sounds like a terrible dream," Jeremy says. "And I got a D in Geometry."
Then Tyler starts telling Jeremy about Silas at his house, needing Bonnie's help and promising to hand over the cure if she delivers.
"He can be anyone," Tyler says. "He was Shane at first, then Klaus. Then..." His voice trails off.
"Then?" Jeremy prompts.
"The pack," Tyler says. "He was all of them. That's why he came to me. He said I should remind you of my need, my need to kill Klaus."
"We all want Klaus dead," Jeremy reminds him. But if it came to it, to choosing between using the cure on Silas or Klaus, they would use it on Silas. A powerful immortal witch versus Klaus? They couldn't use it on Klaus and just let Silas stick around to raise his army. What kind of hell would that bring? "We'll find a way to kill him."
"If you don't help him then he'll destroy the cure," Tyler says, looking to Bonnie.
"And he didn't tell you what Bonnie needs to do?" Jeremy asks.
"He said that's witch business," Tyler says with a roll of his eyes. "I'm just a hybrid."
"Well, do we do it?" Bonnie asks.
"It won't be us," Tyler says. "It'll be you. It's your magic. It's up to you."
"Everything okay, Jer?"
Elena pokes her head in through the bathroom door and pauses when she sees Tyler and Bonnie there. "Oh," she says. For a while, they're all quiet. "You're awake," she says finally.
Bonnie looks over her shoulder at her, nodding. "Yeah."
Tyler and Jeremy exchange a look.
"Have you called Caroline?" Elena asks. "She was really worried."
Jeremy fights the urge to roll his eyes as Bonnie says, "I'll call her."
Elena leaves without asking anymore questions. When the door is closed behind her, Jeremy sighs. "She was worried, too," he tells Bonnie. "I don't know why she's acting like she wasn't."
Bonnie shrugs her shoulders. She's back to business. "In my dream you told me that we have the cure."
"I did?"
"Maybe this is what you meant?" Bonnie says. "We help him, he gives it to us. It's ours."
"If you help him do some mysterious thing that's going to end with him resurrecting a bunch of dead people to do his bidding," Jeremy says.
"He told me it wasn't like that," Tyler says. "He said they have their free will if he raises them."
"Do you believe that?" Jeremy asks.
Tyler shrugs. "I'm just telling you what he said."
But Jeremy can see Tyler kind of wants to believe it.
Bonnie takes them back to Tyler's place, where she deposits them in his bedroom and he hurries to pick up the clothes littering the floor. "Sorry about the mess."
"It's not messy," Bonnie tells him, sitting on his bed and glancing around. The last time she was in here was when they were going to kill Stefan, when they come up to figure out how to work around Katherine. It hasn't changed much since then.
"You don't have to stay here with me."
"I know," she says. "I'm not staying for you." Her voice takes on a playful lilt, and Tyler can't help but smile.
"No?"
"No," Bonnie says. "I'm staying here for me. I've been sleeping alone for days, and I'd like some company. You can't come to my house so I have to stay here if I want to sleep with you."
"Define sleep with."
Bonnie pulls him with her onto the bed, laughing underneath him. He can't believe she can find something to laugh about right now, that she can find something to take joy in when Silas is wandering around and they may end up losing their chance to kill Klaus, that she can take joy in him.
"Your dad's gonna freak," Tyler says, "when he finds out you stayed here with me."
"What's he gonna do?" Bonnie asks. "Ground me?"
"When he found out that I was staying with you, in your room, he flipped. Well, he tried not to make it obvious, but he was pissed." He slides a hand down Bonnie's leg to touch her knee so he can hook it around his waist.
"He'll come around." Her hands slide along his back, underneath his shirt then down to the hem of it so she can tug it over his head. When she throws it aside, she twines her arms around his neck to kiss him. "Sleep with me," she whispers against his mouth. When her hands slide down his arms to hop to his chest and to the button of his jeans, he grins.
"This isn't exactly sleeping."
Bonnie pushes his zipper down. "We'll sleep after."
They don't sleep after. Tyler expects Bonnie to nod off, but she stays awake. That's what twelve days of rest will do to a person. Her fingers trace along Tyler's arm, slung around her neck while he plays with a strand of her hair, curling it around his index finger and then letting it bounce back.
She turns her head toward him. "You can ask me, you know."
"Ask you what?"
"To do it," she says. "See what Silas wants, maybe do whatever it is, get the cure, get your pack, kill Klaus."
"If Silas is the kind of power hungry asshole we've been told he is, that cure may need to be used on him."
"I know," she says, reaching for his hand as her hair uncoils from his finger. "But if he's not and if we can use the cure on Klaus instead, why shouldn't we? If Silas can bring back your pack-"
"I don't want it to be like it's been for you," Tyler says. "I don't want to pressure you into doing anything because I want it. I don't want to assume you'll do these things for me."
"You're not assuming if you're asking," Bonnie says. "You're allowed to ask me. The things I'd do for you, I know you'd do them for me. It's not like before with Elena and Stefan and Damon. It's you and me. We're different. You can ask if you want something from me."
"I don't want anything from you that's gonna hurt you."
"We don't know it'll hurt me."
"We don't know it won't."
"That's why I need to talk to Silas first."
Tyler lets out a heavy sigh. "I want Klaus dead. You and Jeremy do, too, I know that. I don't wanna say I want him dead more because that's not it, I just...I don't know. He took so much from me."
"Let me try to get some of it back," Bonnie says, rolling over so she can look at him. "You can ask me."
"And you can say no."
"I know," she says. "Ask me. If you want me to do something, ask."
"Will you..."
He feels like he doesn't know how to say the words. He remembers when he asked Bonnie to kill Stefan and Damon with him. That was a big ask. This is so much bigger. Then they were going to kill them together. His ass was on the line just as much as hers. Silas, on the other hand, is a witch and this is witch business. Tyler can't help her here. It feels wrong to ask, but he remembers the pack and Klaus. He can leave this town - he will - but if Klaus is still around when he goes he doesn't think it'll be real. And that cure has been the only thing they've found that can kill him.
He tries again. "Will you talk to Silas and see what he wants? Please?"
Bonnie rolls so she's on top of him, her knees on either side of his waist. "Yes."
"Thank you," he says. "But promise me that if you don't like what he says, you'll say no. Okay? Promise."
"He'll destroy the cure. Then we won't have a way to stop him or Klaus."
"Qetsiyah turned him into stone," Tyler says. "We can try that. If you don't like what he says, promise you'll say no."
Bonnie presses her lips together. "I promise. But if it's doable, I'll do it."
She thinks a lot of things are doable. And she's Bonnie so a lot of things are doable, but she's been asleep for nearly two weeks. Things Silas demands of her aren't what they're used to. "And if I don't want you to do it?" Tyler says.
Bonnie leans so her lips are barely touching his. "You can ask me not to, and I can say no."
