All out of options, Kai turns to Damon for help to take out Rayna Cruz once and for all. Meanwhile Bonnie agrees to work with Enzo and the Armory to help save her friends, but her involvement becomes more harmful than helpful, forcing Kai to make a life altering decision that will change their relationship forever.


Why do bad things happen to Bonnie Bennett? All she did was try to protect her best friend and ended up being slammed into a glass window, which led to her skull cracking and bleeding. Now she was resting in a musty hospital room at Whitmore College Medical Center. What did she ever do to deserve being treated like this?

As Bonnie pondered about where her life was going, her phone rang. She picks it up off the side table and checks to see who was calling. When she noticed it was that traitorous vampire, she muted the ringer and placed it back on the table.

Just in time, Damon waltzes into the room with two cups of coffee.

"Oh, good! You're up. How's Bonica-magica?"

Bonnie froze, clenching her jaw. "Don't ever call me that again."

He blinked, not comprehending. "Someone is testy."

"I almost died last night Damon." Bonnie watched his reaction. He sat dejectedly in one of the vacant chairs. "We just started a war with an organization we have no clue about, Kai and Stefan are still running for their lives."

Damon stared down at her, his eyes filled with concern and his brow crumpled, "Don't worry I got a plan."

There was another beep before silence.

"Care to share?" she asked, looking at Damon.

"Well, it's a secret." Damon said, scratching himself in a very inappropriate place.

Bonnie set her chin in a stubborn way, "We don't have time for this Damon, we're supposed to be doing this together."

"Sorry, but this is a one-man mission."

Bonnie tried not to scowl as she said, "And looked how well that worked for Kai?"

He actually smiled rather sweetly at the woman he was looking at. "Newsflash Bon, I'm not Kai." Damon said, his voice taut, "I'm a lot smarter than him, and more handsome."

She could hardly bear to look him in the eyes. "Damon versus Cray-na, because that one gets you right back in Hell. You don't even know how to kill her," she said, and then abruptly changed her mind. "But I know who might."

Damon was scowling at her now. "Don't you dare."

"Enzo's been calling me non-stop- probably to apologize for yesterday. I bet if I go back to the Armory, I can find out more info."

Damon snatches her phone right out her hands before she could even press dial. He tossed it across the room, causing Bonnie to huff and give him a dirty looking.

"Damon, are you crazy?" Bonnie demanded. The vampire's silence only furthered her anger.

"I might be. I might lost my fucking mind again," he repeated, running an agitated hand through his hair and making it even untidier. "Look around, Bonnie. I'm not here for the filmy hospital pudding. You almost died in that place, and I'll never let that happen again."

Cocking her head to the side quizzically, "I…" Bonnie stumbled over her words, rubbing the back of her head as if in pain. "I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Promise me you will stay out of this, Bon. No one needs to get hurt for me anymore. I can handle Rayna," he said, a pale gleam in his eye that made her shudder involuntarily.

Bonnie was very surprised and confused by Damon's over-reaction. She gave him a slow nod and then watched as he placed her coffee down on the table next to her, and then walked out without a goodbye. She wanted to stay safe, she didn't want to get hurt again and she sure as hell didn't want to die. But she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. She had to help bring Kai home.


What a strange meet up. The woods out in Mystic Falls. Sure it wasn't dangerous anymore since Julian died and Deputy Donovan managed to rid the town of all the vampires. The place seemed quiet, too quiet if you ask Kai. This was the last resort for him, asking Damon Salvatore for help. After his failure to recruit Rayna on his side and he got himself marked by her, what other choices did he have.

When he made his way deep into the woods, he found Damon, sitting on a lawn chair next to the well near the old Lockwood property. The vampire had on a bloody apron over his clothes and was drinking from a flask.

"Hunting season for you?" Kai asked, seemingly amused.

The vampire laughed out loud. "I caught myself a Huntress," he said flippantly.

Damon's eyes were on the well beside him, Kai moved closer to see dismembered body parts at the bottom of the well.

"What the fuck." Kai said peevishly, his eyes wide in astonishment.

Grinning slyly to himself, "I may have chopped her up and threw her down there." As Damon said that, suddenly the body burst into flames as she regenerated and resurrected herself. "Gonna be a long day." The smoke billowing from inside the well, he rolls his eyes and groans in annoyance as he takes another sip from his flask.

Rayna has just regenerated, and she was standing naked in the well, rolling her neck as her joints crack loudly.

"Your plan is to keep her down there?" His eyes glittered darkly as he waited for an answer.

Damon, annoyed, grabs a bunch of clothing from the ground and throws them down to her without even getting out of his chair. Rayna growled loudly by his action.

"It's not my fault she won't stay dead." He looked very serious for a moment, "Look you came to me for help. We're doing this my way."

Kai frowned, reminding himself that it was this colossal prick that had gotten him into this mess in the first place. Who stays knocked out during an entire fight? Damon Salvatore, that's who.

Kai glared at Damon, trying to watch his tone. "I was hoping you had some idea to get rid of her for good," he said this with thinly veiled pride, "I can't keep running from her, I have other things to deal with."

"Like what?" Damon hit back, annoyed at the other man's tone.

Kai raised a dark eyebrow at this question.

"Lucy Bennett," he said firmly. "I'm hiding her from the Armory."

"Wait, why is Lucy Bennett hiding from the Armory?" Damon asked immediately and unequivocally. "Wait a minute, how the hell do you even know Lucy?"

The Heretic sighed deeply and with some considerable sorrow.

"It's a long story, but there's a girl who believes Lucy killed her sister." His voice carried a note of melancholy, "She wants revenge. Lucy and I have an agreement to protect Bonnie from Rayna and the Armory."

"Fuck!" Damon tapped his finger to the side of his nose conspiratorially. "Enzo, works for them."

Kai raised his eyebrows until they almost hit his hairline. "Enzo?"

Damon cleared his throat. "Yesterday he tried to get us to work with him, well them," the vampire chipped in again. "It was a trap, he locked me with Tyler Lockwood on a full moon. Bonnie came to rescue me, but Tyler knocked her out and almost killed her-"

"What?" Kai grew angry now and glared at Damon with eyes as black as the night surrounding them. "You let her get hurt again?"

Damon's face whitened, "I didn't let her, I tried to tell her to leave me," he said hurriedly.

Kai gritted his teeth, deciding not to drop the subject. "You were stupid enough to leave her in the hands of Enzo."

"I didn't leave her with Enzo, the guy shot me." Damon hastened to add.

Kai glanced across at his companion with a frown on his face and beckoned him over.

"You two love birds fighting up there." Rayna chimed in with delight.

"Bit of a pickle here, Ray. I got big plans," Damon started, "But, I can't go on vacation until I do something about you. See, I can't relax and sip Mai Tais while you're out hunting my brother and bestie Kai." The Heretic rolled his eyes at that comment. "And, every time I kill you, you just bring Phoenix back to life."

"Well, why don't you just let me kill your brother and Kai, then you can do whatever you want?" Her tone was deadly.

Damon shrugged in a noncommittal way. "Tempting. Truly. But, I kind of owe them," the vampire said, standing quickly and flinging his chair back.

Kai snorted and rolled his eyes as Damon bargained for their lives. The vampire shot him a harsh glare and stepped aside.

Moving closer to the well, Kai stared down into the hole. "Rayna, there's gotta be something to get us out of this."

"You want me to go against my very nature." Rayna glanced quickly at Kai who raised an eyebrow at her. "My father envisioned a world without vampires. I will not rest until I see his vision through."

Kai was left looking dejected at this revelation.


Bonnie was sitting on top of one of the tables in the room where many of the artifacts were displayed in cases. Sitting around waiting for her former ex-lover, current nemesis to arrive. Soon enough a door suddenly beeps as it unlocks and opens.

"You actually showed up. Color me surprised," said the dull, dusty voice.

Enzo comes into the room with his insubstantial eyebrows raised slightly.

Something about him caught her attention for a moment.

"Did it grow back, or…?" she parried, her humour quickly restored.

"No, I had it reattached," he said, his face becoming grave. "But thank you for your concern little witch."

Bonnie forced herself to stand her ground. "Well, hope that teaches you never to mess with me again," she replied firmly.

"Won't happen again," he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I take it you received my messages?"

"All fifteen of them." Bonnie watched him keenly. "And, I'm not stupid enough to think that your apologies were anything other than a tactic to get you here," she said in a stronger voice. "Sadly I need you as much as you clearly need me. But if you ever disable my magic again I will cut your dick off."

He reached out a hand to Bonnie's chin, and she flinched back; he smirked when he saw her fear.

"Don't touch me!" Her voice was squeaky.

Enzo menacingly as he rolls his eyes in exasperation. "You're becoming more and more like Damon," he said in mock laughter. "You put more effort into him than the one man who actually likes you. Quite pathetic."

Bonnie's eyes darkened. "You don't know anything about me or my relationships."

Enzo put on a fake look of shock upon his face. "No, I just know you're a sucker for pain and suffering. It must be really sad to be you these days."

Bonnie frowned even more. "Thanks, Dr. Phil."

"Just trying to help." Enzo placed a fake smile on his face. "For what it's worth I'm sort of team Kai. I mean he did save your other boyfriend's life."

Bonnie knew he said that to make her take offence and lose her temper.

"Lorenzo, leave the young lady alone."

A petite dark skinned woman walked into the room and joined them.

"You must be Bonnie Bennett, I'm Alex St. John. Lorenzo actually spoke very highly of you." The other woman smiled while Enzo stood frozen in absolute shock.

Bonnie glanced from him to Alex. "Did he now?"

"Not sure what happened yesterday, but I'm sorry for his behavior." Alex said in a serious tone. "He wasn't following my proper protocol. I asked him personally to call you back here, so we could meet."

Enzo made a strangled noise.

"About?" Bonnie demands, too flabbergasted for social subtlety.

"Rayna Cruz is a common enemy. We should be working together to fight her." Alex pitched back, folding her arms across her chest.

Bonnie looked puzzled for a minute. "From what Enzo told us, you don't want to fight. You want her captured. My friends are running from her. I'm gonna need you to do a lot more than lock her up."

Alex grins widely. "How about you follow me?"

Alex then turns on her heel and walks back toward the door, and when Bonnie looks at Enzo questioningly. The vampire dramatically and mockingly bows and waves his arm to the door as though to say, Ladies first. Bonnie reluctantly walks past him to follow Alex, with Enzo trailing behind her. They end up in a dark room that is even more packed full of books, artifacts, and other dark objects.

"Everything in this room contains intel that we have gathered over the years on Rayna Cruz. All her victims, her lineages and the spell that was used to create her."

The witch looked at Alex and frowned. Scoping out the room she sees eight bodies in glass cases with lids.

"And, most importantly, the shamans that gave their lives for her. The eight Everlastings."

Bonnie noticed six of the bodies looked mummified and the last two sharmans remained fresh looking in the case.

"Why are six of these guys looking pretty, lasted?" she mumbled underneath her breath.

The brunette's eyes were bloodshot and glazed over."There should be three preserved corpses, what the hell is this Enzo?" A look of fury crossed over Alex's face.

Inhaling sharply, "This must have just happened," said Enzo, looking a little scared.

Heat filled her face, even though the room was rather cold. "Useless every single one of you." Alex whipped around before storming out the room taking out her cellphone.

A look of humiliation crossed Enzo's face that didn't go unnoticed by Bonnie, but quickly pulled his face into a fake smile again.

She peered up at him through her lashes, and their eyes met. "Looks like you guys are way over your heads with this." Bonnie clicked her tongue impatiently.

Enzo's lower jaw began to quiver. "When Rayna dies, a body decays. We've lost quite a few this past week, and if we lose all of them, Rayna dies for good."

Bonnie's mouth dropped in shock. She was silent. The witch didn't know what to say to this or what to think of it. Either way, Bonnie just got what she needed to save her friends and bring Kai back home.


Back in the woods, Damon was munching on nuts as he sat on the edge of the well, throwing peanut shells at Rayna down in the hole. She was looking up annoyed by the vampire's antics and Kai was getting tired of sitting around with Damon.

"We need a plan Damon, Valerie just texted me that she's at a herb shop trying to heal Stefan." His eyes darkened with defiance.

Kai wasn't at all happy that Valerie dropped her plan to go overseas, choosing to run off with Stefan. But she was a big girl, who made her choices.

Damon eyed him, a flicker of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "So... hunting vampires is your identity. Your fundamental This is who I am in a nutshell." He sprinkled kernels of nuts down on Rayna's head. "You ever wonder if there's a way to change that?"

"Clearly there isn't, so how about you stop fooling around with me," she hissed up.

Damon simply shrugged. "It's possible for you to change. Look at me and Kai. Both of us were prone to unnecessary bursts of violence…" Kai frowned at him. "This guy killed his entire family."

"All the more reasons he should be dead," Rayna sneered.

Damon looked like he had been kicked in the teeth.

"Thanks for that Damon," said Kai, rolling his eyes. "Maybe there's a spell to undo what the shamans did." He raked his fingers through his hair, trying to fix it.

Rayna sighed. "You don't think I've tried that before. There's nothing out here, no loophole."

Kai couldn't believe that.

Ambition spun in Damon's eyes. "Look what if we found someone that could make you change. Find Mr. Right."

"I don't need a vampire matchmaker. But thanks," she muttered, resting her chin in her hand.

Damon cleared his throat. "You've been alive for over a century, you must have fallen in love once or twice. Come on, was there ever a Mr. Hunter?"

She growled silently and curled up her fists.

Kai shook his head and turned his back to them both. This wasn't helping, if anything Damon was just pissing Rayna off more.

"What Damon means is that he was an evil bastard until he met a girl. Maybe if you meet someone that's worth a damn, you'd stop hunting so much and try to settle down." Kai suggested, not really knowing what else to say.

Damon nodded, but Rayna looked confused.

"You really believe it's just that easy. That a person who spends years killing, tormenting and ruining innocent people's lives, can change their whole core values for one single person." She stared up at them both in disbelief. "What's to say when that person's gone they won't go back to their same old shit. That's just a temporary solution to a permanent problem."

Kai looked away from Rayna.

"Hmm. Looks like we don't have to pretend we care anymore."

Damon held up Rayna's stake-shooting shotgun, aimed it to her face and pulled the trigger. Kai couldn't hear anything else but his own voice as he let a high-pitched scream.


Enzo and Bonnie were still hanging out in Rayna Cruz's exhibit room, with all the shaman corpses and paperwork of Rayna's history. Bonnie was texting away as Enzo's back was turned to her. Wasn't too long before Enzo stood in her face, glaring.

"Explain yourself. If not, you won't be leaving here alive, that's a promise." He towered over her, Bonnie's heart lurched once his eyes met hers.

The witch leaned back, making herself comfortable for the long haul. "I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings by lying about my true intentions for being here? Feels crappy, doesn't it," she said, tossing her hair behind her shoulders.

Enzo looked at her in disbelief. "Bonnie, whatever you're doing just stop."

She laughs softly. "You see I'm clearly doing nothing but playing with my phone," Bonnie said simply. "Damon on the other hand..."

"A bloody buffoon," he replied, sighing in annoyance.

"Are you mad that he's taking care of a problem you couldn't," she says, in a low growl of a voice. "Maybe if you just man up for once in your life and stop letting people steamroll all over you."

"You think you know so damn much huh?" Enzo asks, screwing up his face in concentration. "Every time Rayna dies, she comes back stronger!"

Bonnie's eyes flashed darkly. "Except for that last one, right? She won't be stronger when she's dead for good. Why do we even want her alive?" she spit, narrowing her eyes to stare menacingly at the person she hated most in this world.

"What do you think happens when Rayna dies, huh?" Enzo sounded surprised and for a moment Bonnie wondered why. He walks over to the bookshelf and takes one of the open books off the display and drops it on the table next to her. "This was the spell the shamans used on her."

"So what?" she asked in wonder.

Enzo sighed heavily. "Her sword. It has linking magic. It creates a bond between Rayna and her victims."

"We know this already..." Bonnie began, but Enzo cut her off.

"The scars are just a fail-safe," he announced sarcastically. "What do you think is gonna happen to your little boyfriend once Rayna dies."

Enzo watched the play of emotions run over her face and could tell Bonnie was thinking hard.

Bonnie unconsciously flicked her eyes over Enzo as he skidded, "If Rayna dies then so does Kai and everyone who's been marked by her." The vampire breathed, hanging his head lowly.

White, hot anger stirred inside her. Not caring that Enzo would be listening in on her conversation, she quickly searched for Damon's number and called him.

"I'm still pissed at you for not listening to me," said Damon, a little arrogant. "But, I do suppose that me discoursing anyone on lecturing authority…"

"You have to stop killing her." Bonnie roared, leaning against the mahogany table.

"Why would I do that?"

A pained expression was on Bonnie's face. "Damon, her wounds from the sword, it's linked to her victims." She ran her fingers through her hair and turned her back to the window. "If she dies one last time so does Kai and Stefan," she answered through gritted teeth.

"Oh my god. Kai," he all but screeched.

Bonnie racked her brain. "Kai? Wait, Damon, what's going on?"

Damon huffed and puffed out of breath. "He's with me. We were trying to tackle the Rayna situation together, we just finished burning her underground."

"Dig her up, NOW!" Bonnie felt anger bubbling inside of her.


After that frightening phone call from Bonnie. Damon went running through the woods to find the spot he left Kai burying Rayna. As he got closer he could see Kai wiping his hands off on a dirty shirt. Damon threw himself on the dirt ground trying to frantically dig the body up.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kai asked, suddenly very serious.

He clenched his jaw. "We made a mistake, we can't kill her."

Damon was using his bare hands at this point trying to dig into the dirt.

Kai's heart twisted in knots. "Damon, what's going on?"

Suddenly as he got closer to seeing Rayna's dead face, Kai started groaning in pain. Damon flashed his head up to see Kai clutching his chest.

"Come on, you can't die," he shouted as he frantically clawed through the dirt of her shallow grave.

Meanwhile, Kai was gasping for breath, following onto the ground, as though he was suffocating.

"Please be alive." Damon finally uncovers her head, allowing him to shove the dirt away from her chest and face as well.

"My.. chest… what's happening?" Kai let out a raspy voice. He ripped his shirt off to see his X-shaped scar was raw and opened.

"Hold on, man." Damon promised. "I'm gonna save you both."

Kai noticed darkened blood vessels that were spreading away from the scar and growing larger as they began to cover his chest. He could feel himself drifting out of consciousness.

Damon started biting into his wrist and forcing his blood down Rayna's throat.

"You have to wake up," He pulled his wrist to see if she got any of the blood. She wasn't drinking it. "No, dammit you bitch." Damon began to restart her breathing by pinching her nose and giving her ventilation through her mouth.

He was in a complete panic mode. While Kai was unconscious on the ground, which meant that Stefan was somewhere else dying. Damon tried to do chest compression on the Huntress hoping this might wake her up.

"Breathe! Come on, Rayna! Breathe!"

Damon continues doing chest compressions that were so hard, the sounds of her ribs cracking could be heard throughout the woods. He tried one last compression with all his might.

Rayna coughed up a large amount of dirt, as she began gasping for air.

Damon looked across from himself to see Kai suddenly waking up with a gasp too. The blood vessels that were around his scar receded and returned to their normal color.

The vampire let out a grateful sigh and fell backwards.

"Mind explaining what the hell just happened?" asked Kai, bracing himself for something bad.

Damon sighs into his hands, thinking hard. "She's linked to everyone she's marked." He finally muffled into his hands.

"Shit," swore Kai, making a disgusted face. "So there's no real way to get rid of her."

Damon removed his hands from his face and looked at his friend. Meanwhile Rayna was suddenly looking at them both with a furious expression. Before Damon could move, Rayna grabs him in a one-hand choke-hold and throws him with force backwards several feet away from her.

The Huntress turned to glower at Kai, who stood there, mouth agape.

"Fuck," Kai muttered under his breath. "Rayna, you don't have to do this. We can find another way."

Rayna eyed him coolly. "I'm done listening to you boys."

He sneered at her and folded his arms. "I'm not finished." Kai began, flashing her integrating frown. "I was stupid to go along with Damon's idiot plan. I'm sorry we tried to kill you. But I have too much to live for right now, I'm not going into that stone. My nieces need me, I can't leave them."

"You have a family?" she turned to look him in the eye.

Kai looked at her warily, not sure of her motives, with Rayna you could never be too careful. "Yes, my twin sister's kids, they were born that night you marked me at the hospital," he explained. "My brother-in-law is human, he can't raise Siphoners alone."

"I'm sorry, but I can't stop. There's no way for me to stop hunting vampires," she spoke gently.

He looked down at his hand, which was clenched. "So this is it huh. I tried so hard to do the right thing this time. And I still failed at it," he made himself uncurl each finger one by one.

Rayna blinked at him, tilting her head to one side. "I like you, kid. Sadly I'm still gonna have to kill you. But I can at least give you a head start. In fact I'll kill Damon first, then Stefan, the rest of the Heretics including your blonde friend, I'll save you for last Malachai." This was a new frontier for them. To be quite honest, he was shocked at her admission.

Kai stared up at her cynically, but he let it drop. Before he could speak again he heard a branch snap nearby and reconsider his plan.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, getting back to the business at hand.

Rayna frowns, "If this is your way to sike me out, it didn't work," she snarled, trying not to raise her voice.

Kai used his vampire-speed towards her, completely launching himself onto her. There was another sharp crack, he was sure this time Rayna's heard it. Kai uses his vampire-hearing to get a clear sound.

And then a voice cut through him. It was terror, firm and commanding. "Don't kill her. Just shoot her and bag her up.

"Soldiers at least ten of them. They're here for you." Damon said sharply, finally getting up two steps at a time. "The Armory is here."

Rayna was staring at Kai with a faintly shocked expression. She drew one shuddering breath and then another, willing her heart to slow, willing herself to calm.

"I'll protect you from them."

"Parker, what are you doing?" Damon snapped angrily, emphasising his last name.

Kai frowned, his long hands tightening on her arms. "I'll go on the run with you. But only if you promise not to hunt anyone else."

She shook her head, lips moving silently, trying to form words. "Why should I trust you?

"I'm just trying to keep my friends safe. But if you wanna be locked up in a cage while they experiment on you, then fine." Rayna was indestructible, the Armory didn't have the power to keep her locked away forever, which means once she figured out how to escape, she'll be chasing them down within a week's top.

Her brows were knit together as she looked up at him.

He looked down at her. "What will it be Rayna? The Armory's prison cell, where they'll torment you for more power or are you willing to live another day?" Kai knew she'd rather just kill him and Damon on the spot then ask him for protection.

Rayna jerked her head around. "Fine. We need to start running now."

Noticing that Damon had a look of outrage on his face out of the corner of Kai's eye.

He drew in a deep breath. "Tell Bonnie, I'm sorry."

Immediately Damon rounded on Kai. "This is stupid Kai, let the Armory have her. You and Bonnie can walk off into the sunset," he said, coldly.

"As long as I have this scar, Rayna will hunt me. There's kids involved. I'm not gonna put my nieces in danger, which means that I can't be with Bonnie either. Not as long as Rayna is alive. And since she can't die, I have no other options. I don't trust the Armory, not with their sketchy history."

Rayna stood a few paces away from Damon and Kai.

Kai closed his eyes. "None of us are safe, but I'm at least buying us sometime. With her out of the way, you guys can work together and figure out how to remove these scars that link us." He stood straight, hiding his worry.

Damon bit at his top lip. "Maybe."

Kai turned his back on Damon, and escorted Rayna out the woods before the Army of soldiers arrived. The vampire was standing still in the woods as the soldiers closed in on him. He never told Kai his vacation plan.


Bonnie was very anxious waiting around. After an hour, she hopped off the table and started heading towards the exit, that's when Enzo walked back inside the room.

"Where are you off to, little witch?" he drawled, sauntering further into the room.

To her credit, she didn't back down. Instead, she tossed her hair out of her face and glared at him. "Back to Mystic Falls, sitting here is a waste of time."

Enzo grinned wickedly just then. "Before I bless you with some news."

Bonnie pursed her lips. "Which is?" she asked, furrowing her brows like she was irritated.

"Rayna is alive." He beamed, white teeth flashing in his dusky face.

"Good news for you," she interjected, fear dancing in her features.

"Which means your boyfriend is alive." Enzo offered, trying to make the best of the situation.

Bonnie felt her cheeks heat. "Wonderful."

"Actually," Enzo said, and she stopped, her eyebrows lifting in daze. "I've just learned some pretty interesting information from Alex about both of your boyfriends," he joked, giving her a lopsided grin.

Bonnie pushed a lock of hair behind one ear and shrugged warily. "Are you gonna tell me what you know or am I gonna have to beat it out of you?"

"Lucy Bennett," Enzo began, and stopped as Bonnie went from neutral to transparent at the name. "Was found traveling with Kai in New Orleans. Know anything about that?"

Fury ran through Bonnie's insides rapidly and she had to run to catch up to his long strides-he was at least seven centimetres taller than her anyway.

"Enzo, I swear to god…"

The vampire smirked in reply. "I'm just the messenger. But I can't lie, I am curious as to why Kai was with Lucy Bennett, I didn't even know there were more Bennett witches alive."

Bonnie looked mutinous enough to curse him. She tried to push past him, but he beat her to the door, slamming it shut and setting one shoulder against it.

"I'm not done yet." Enzo smirked at the frustrated expression on her face. "While Heretic loverboy was playing with your cousin, your other lover is running away to New York to desiccate himself right next to Elena."

Bonnie sobered quickly before a full war could erupt. "You're lying."

Enzo watched his ex-lover impartially as she contorted her face in dread. She swallowed back an aggrieved sob.

He laughed in spite of himself. "Damon called Alex and asked her for the keys to the warehouse Elena is resting at."

Bonnie pressed her lips together in irritation and glared at him. "I need to go." She turned away from him trying to stalk out the room.

Enzo shook his head slowly. "The Armory went to capture Rayna Cruz," he said finally. "When they got there, they only found Damon. Apparently Kai gave himself over to Rayna. I wouldn't expect him anytime soon either."

Bonnie shivered and forced her thoughts not to go dark.

"He just sacrificed everything to save your friends, including you. It's a good thing you have Matt and Caroline to keep you company. Oh wait you don't. I heard Caroline is moving to Texas with Alaric and Donovan met a new girl named Peggy." Enzo snorted, amused. "Everyone seemed to abandon you. Just like old times."

Enzo seemed unaffected by the wickedness surrounding them. While Bonnie gasped for air, shuddering, looking close to tears. She turned on her heel and stalked to the door, letting herself out to the corridor.


There was a knock on the front door.

Kai didn't need to guess who it was. He walked out into the living room to open the door.

There she stood in his doorway. She closed her eyes in obvious relief when she saw him. Bonnie stepped into the room. While Kai very deliberately kicked the door shut and leaned against it.

"Are you even gonna say goodbye?"

Astonishment colored Bonnie's face when she finally met Kai's eyes. Then it disappeared and was replaced with something akin to uncertainty.

Kai frowned at her as she slumped against the living room wall. "I told Damon…"

"Damon," Bonnie spat bitterly, her breath hitching. "Damon decided to take the easy way out and run off to New York to be with Elena in a coffin for the next sixty years." Her voice cracked as she rested her forehead on her hand, her face obscured by her curly hair. "Enzo told me, you've been seeing Lucy, why?"

Kai watched, one eyebrow raised. "Lucy, ran into a bit of trouble and I helped her. She didn't want to involve you."

"So you just happen to be her emergency contact," she yelled, "Even now you won't tell me the full truth, instead you're hiding with your tail between your legs."

Kai waited a moment. "What do you want me to tell you, Bonnie?" he asked, trying to peer around the room. "Damon and I are gonna cut from the same cloth. Except for the fact that I'm running to save you all and he's hiding because he can't live without Elena."

It took a moment to realize that she was crying, tears leaking steadily from beneath her closed eyelids.

"Do you think I like this?" Kai asked cautiously, shaking slightly. "Do you think I like that fact that I'm about to spend a good portion of my life helping a woman who wants me dead. That I'll never get to see my nieces grow up. Don't you think I'd rather be in Dallas with Alaric and Caroline right now, helping out with …" Stunned that he didn't even know their names.

She placed a hand on Kai's shaking shoulder. "Elizabeth and Josette Saltzman. And you're not gonna miss out on anything, you'll get to see them grow up into powerful women." Bonnie didn't move. She simply looked at Kai, his face blank.

Kai wanted to brush the hand away, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. "Not until Rayna's dead. That's sixty plus years from..." he began, then stopped himself. That sounded far too much like a whine.

"You're wrong you know." Bonnie reassured him, her face strained. "You and Damon are entirely different."

Kai's heart seemed to fall right down into his stomach. "We both hurt you, we both lied to you, and we're both leaving you," he said through gritted teeth.

"When I first met you, I thought to myself what a snotty little shit head." Kai laughed softly. "But you were also intriguing, charming and very cute," Kai was flushed, but Bonnie didn't take notice. "When I found out you killed those kids, your sibling I was… disappointed, I wanted you to be a normal nice guy and you weren't."

Kai cleared his throat, suddenly nervous.

"Then you hurt me. I know I stabbed you first, but I couldn't risk you coming back and killing more people." Bonnie finally whispered. "I was just trying to do the right thing, but I failed," she made a sound deep in her throat, something like a strangled laugh.

There was a long pause.

"Bonnie..." He stopped, at a loss as to what to say, and glanced down at the floor of his feet. "You did nothing wrong. Okay, I'm the psychopath who screwed up his life."

He wanted to touch her, he realized suddenly, to comfort her, to wipe away the silent tears he knew were tracing her cheeks, he wanted it so badly his palms ached.

Kai let his hand slide down her back gently, rubbing in slow circles. But instead of being soothed, his touch on her shoulder seemed to break something inside of her, and Bonnie started to cry in earnest, in harsh, rasping sobs that shook her whole body.

"When I first saw you in the prison world, I thought you were the most beautiful girl, I've ever seen in my life," he murmured, unused to this business of giving comfort and fervently hoping she'd stop crying soon. "I still do, you're perfect, a goddamn powerhouse."

She took one deep breath, and another, then raised her head, face blotchy from weeping, and slid slightly away from him. "This can't be goodbye."

"Bonnie… I..." she braced her hands against his chest and tossed her hair out of her eyes, curls sliding over her shoulders. "Bonnie, I…" he stopped himself and yanked her forward —she stumbled and caught herself against his chest—and kissed her instead.

He pressed his mouth against hers, hard and angry, but the kiss changed almost at once as something ignited between them. It was like fire, frustration and agony burning through them both, making it impossible to let go, impossible to stop. Bonnie moaned softly in spite of herself, and Kai gasped in turn, sliding his tongue along her lip, deepening the kiss.

Bonnie clutched at his shoulders, light-headed and unbalanced. He felt so solid, the only real thing in the vortex of emotion swirling inside her, his hands and mouth her only anchor. Kai moved his hands to her hips and lifted her up to set her on the table behind her, his lips never leaving hers. He pushed her legs apart so he could move between her knees.

Kai dropped one hand to rest on her thigh, just above her knee. She made a small, helpless noise in her throat and pulled him even closer. She didn't know it could be like this—She wanted him closer yet, wanted more than just these deep, drugging kisses that left her shaking.

Kai's hand tightened almost painfully on her leg and he pulled away, buried his face in her shoulder with a groan. "Shit," he muttered, his breath hot against her neck. "You have to go."

Bonnie swallowed hard against the desire to pull him back, steadied herself with a deep breath, and slid to the floor.

"If there were another way. Bonnie, I swear to you." Kai pushed his hair back.

Bonnie laughed shortly. "I never had that sort of luck."

Backing up a few steps. His hair was disheveled, his clothes disordered, and he looked as shaken as she felt. "You deserve the world Bonnie Bennett. I'm just sorry I couldn't be the man you deserved, at least not in this lifetime."

Tears threatened to fall from his eyes but he shook them off, he didn't need to break down in front of Bonnie, especially when Rayna Cruz was hiding out in his sister's bedroom this entire time, listening in on them.

A sly smile curled her mouth as she turned the possibility over in her mind. "Au revior, Malachai."

Kai stared at her for a long moment, his face half in shadow.

Bonnie bestowed an enigmatic smile on Kai and shut the door quietly behind her as she left.

"Je t'aime, Bonnie Bennett."

Kai closed his eyes and sank to the floor. No longer caring that Rayna was still in the next room. Drawing his knees up close to his chest, and he dropped his forehead to his knees and closed his eyes. Tears poured down his face and he didn't bother to wipe them away, Kai was going to let the grief wash over him.


AN: Next chapter is the three year time jump. Where both Kai and Damon are force to face the repercussions of their decisions. Bonnie meets another St. John family member, and Enzo gets deadly information about a Bennett witch.