This is a continuation of The Vampire Diaries, Season 2, Episode 1. Klaus and Jeremy are back in Mystic Falls.

Klaus woke up with his arms still around his new son, who was sleeping deeply. He smoothed back the boy's brother hair gently. He couldn't help but recall the nights he had spent comforting Marcel after they brought him home from the governor's plantation. The boy woke with nightmares for months, maybe years. If only Marcel were still alive...but Klaus could not think like that. He had someone new to take care of now.

Klaus went down to the kitchen and Nicole was already working. With her dark hair and fiery eyes, Nicole resembled Penelope Cruz to Klaus. Nicole was French, but her family was from Spain also. Not that he watched that many films these days, but Rebekah had forced them all to watch Vanilla Sky a few years back. She had thought she could be an actress and looked like Cameron Diaz. A vampire becoming an actress? Well, some of them never seemed to age. He smiled fondly recalling the memory.

"You look happy today, Master Klaus. How's the boy? Recovered from yesterday?" Nicole asked cracking eggs into a bowl.

"Mornin', Love. Yes, the naughtiness has been thrashed out of the boy for now. You would never know he suffered such a whacking at the hands of his 'evil' father. I didn't even give him my blood," Klaus said pouring himself coffee.

"Speaking of, would you like to..." Nicole offered him her neck.

"No thank you, you have been through enough this weekend," Klaus said, turning to kiss her on the cheek. Klaus always had spare blood bags around, but of course, feeling on a human was much more satisfying.

"He's a good boy. He just needs a father to teach him a bit of respect, even if it has to be through his stubborn backside," Nicole smiled. "Now, sit. I'm making you oeufs en cocotte."

"Sounds lovely."

Jeremy woke up alone. His face felt puffy from crying. He remembered falling asleep in Klaus' arms and wasn't sure how he thought about that. Jeremy went to get up and felt only a mild tenderness in his backside. He went to bathroom and pulled down the back of his sweats. There were two small areas of pink, but other than that his behind was unblemished and clear. His face colored to recall the incidents of the previous day. He was loathe to face Nicole and his...

Klaus, but he was hungry.

"Good morning, Master Jeremy. Do you like eggs scrambled?" Nicole said brightly. She knew the teen did not care for her more elaborate French cooking.

"Ah, yeah, thanks. Where's Klaus?" Jeremy asked politely looking around.

"He said he was going to walk down to the boat house if you wanted to join him after breakfast," Nicole said filling his plate with scrambled eggs.

"Great. Um, Nicole, you know I am sorry about yesterday. I don't know what gets into me," Jeremy said with his face burning. He couldn't just pretend like nothing happened.

"I say I forgive you. But, just so you know, your papa left that paddle in this drawer with me," she said indicating a drawer to the right of the refrigerator, "so behave!"

"Yes, m'am. Believe me, I don't want to see that dam-, I mean, darn thing again," Jeremy blurted, quickly catching himself from cursing.

"Oui, and the soap is here too, so watch it!" Nicole warned with a wry smile.

Klaus was checking out his boats when Jeremy came to join him.

"Hi," he said shyly.

Klaus stood and put his arm around Jeremy.

"How you feeling?" Klaus asked.

"Good. I'm kind of surprised that, you know, I really don't feel anything much today," Jeremy admitted. "Last night, I felt like you lit my as-, my butt on fire."

"Ah, well, I hope that we won't need to revisit that particular topic ever again, because if we do, that paddling will feel like a trip to the park," Klaus said patting the boy's shoulder.

"Oh, we won't. Nicole showed me where the paddle is and I can still taste that fu-freaking soap, I swear," Jeremy laughed.

Klaus laughed and pulled him into an embrace, "You know, I meant it when I said I loved you."

"Me, too," Jeremy said with his face against Klaus' shoulder.

Raul burst into the boat house right at that moment.

"Mister M., there is an urgent message for you," Raul said out of breath.

Klaus took the paper and looked at Jeremy.

"How do you feel about going back to Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked slowly.

A few days later, Klaus and Jeremy were on a private plane back to Virginia. Jeremy found out that they had been on an island somewhere in the Bahamas. He would miss the water and the house as they had formed a nice routine of painting, eating, fishing, gaming, and just getting to know each other.

"Did you own that house? That whole island?" Jeremy asked Klaus in the plane.

"Yes, we have many investment properties all over the world. When I'm not there, I rent it out. Typically, the staff stays there. However, I have invited Nicole to come back to Virginia with us. She has agreed. She will come with the rest of our belongings later in the week," Klaus said happily.

"Do you have a house in Mystic Falls?" Jeremy asked curious. Klaus didn't seem to work, but clearly he was very wealthy.

"Several, actually," Klaus admitted, "but I have been building a large compound on the edge of Mystic Falls. It is almost completed. I think you will like it. You can have your own studio, if you like," Klaus promised.

"But I like painting with you," Jeremy admitted quickly, a little embarrassed that he admitted that so quickly. He tried to remind himself that he was a prisoner and that Klaus was not his father.

"I like that, too," Klaus said patting Jeremy's arm. "I'm going to have to take care of somethings when we arrive. I may even be gone for a while."
Jeremy looked up surprised.

"Don't worry. The staff will be with you. You won't be alone," Klaus comforted.

"Aren't you afraid that I will just leave?" Jeremy wondered.

"Son, you are not my prisoner. When I took you, you were on the verge of suicide. If you want to go back to your old life, you can. However, if you do, I fear for your safety. You mentioned Stefan, Stefan Salavatore, correct?" Klause ventured.

"Yes, that's right. He's my sister's boyfriend," Jeremy said feeling a pang in his heart when he thought of Elena.

"They cannot keep you safe. Stefan used to be called the Ripper of Monteray. If he gets a taste of human blood, he goes berserk. He himself could be a danger to you. And your sister, she may be..."
Jeremy blinked, what of his sister?

"...a kind of double. It's very rare and can pose a danger."

"Klaus, what should I tell my family?" Jeremy whispered.

"They cannot know my true identity. That is plain. Perhaps I can think of a plan to get them to agree to..."
"To what?" Jeremy said, hoping he knew what Klaus was about to say.

"To let me adopt you," Klaus smiled as the boy jumped into his arms.

"I was hoping you would say that," Jeremy said through his tears.

***
"Elena? Jenna?" Jeremy walked into his old house to find it empty.

He wasn't surprised. The girls were probably with their boyfriends or running around with the latest drama. Jeremy guess Uncle John had taken off again after giving him the ring. Typical.

Raul had dropped him off as Klaus had some errors to run.

He went up to his room and found it the same. Well, someone had made his bed. He filled a backpack with his things and headed back towards the door. He found his cell phone sitting on the desk. It was funny that he hadn't missed it when he was away. He dialed Elena and Jenna and both went to voicemail.

Jeremy heard the doorbell and went to open the door.

"Jeremy?" Tyler Lockwood said confused, standing on the porch.

"Tyler, hey man, what are you doing here?" Jeremey said equally puzzled.

"Me? Dude, we thought you ran away. Elena was having Bonnie doing locator spells and all this shit. Where were you?" Tyler stated.

"Man, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. How is everyone?" Jeremy said concerned.

"Crazy. Same old drama. Like I said, your sister has been looking for you. Everyone has been helping. My mom is a mess. You know, we still don't know what happened with my dad," Ty lamented.

"Hey, I'm sorry about your dad. I know what it was like when my parents died. All those strangers acting like they cared," Jeremy recalled.

"Well, your dad was a good guy. My dad, at times, could be a..."

"A dick? Well, you weren't the easiest kid to get along with. Remember how many times you tried to kick my ass," Jeremy joked.

"Yeah, that's true. Ironically, my family had just started to get along so much better. Now this," Tyler admitted. "It's hard to go back to that house."
"Want me to come over and hang? I'm trying to get a hold of Elena and Jenna, but I guess they are busy," Jeremy said a little depressed by his lame homecoming.

"Yeah, I got a case of beer. You can tell me where you took off to," Tyler said leading Jeremy to his truck.

A few hours later, Tyler and Jeremy were drunk. Tyler had found a flask of his father's in his desk. Jeremy described his little vacation leaving out Klaus' identity and some of the other details. Namely, the spankings he got. He did talk about the house and all the cool things he got to do.

The door opened and a large man said, "Hey, what's going on in here Tyler?"

Jeremy figured this was Tyler's Uncle Mason.

Tyler had the good grace to look sheepish and muttered, "Nothing, nothing." Mason looked at Jeremy sternly and said, "You have somewhere else to be?"

He motioned for Jeremy to give him the flask.

Mason took a swig from the flask and handed it to Tyler.

Jeremy figured that it was time to leave. Maybe he'd try the Mystic Grill. He checked his phone and no one had tried to call him back.

Tyler was so pissed. He was staring at a picture of his family. Just when they were finally getting along his dad dies. He smashed the picture against the desk. He then proceeded to smash everything on the desk.

"Tyler! What are you doing?" Carol Lockwood said, walking in to the scene.

Tyler cried, "I hate him." Carol's heard went out to her only son, "Oh, don't say that, honey." She touched him on the shoulder to try to calm him down. She was grieving too. Screaming, "Let go of me!" Tyler knocked his mother down. Suddenly, Mason burst in and pinned Tyler to the floor as Carol tried to get up. Tyler was in a rage and could only scream, "Get off of me!" Tyler continued to fight to free himself, but Mason was stronger. "Look at me. Look at me. Calm down. Settle down," Mason said calmingly. Tyler stopped, now realizing what he had done. Carol moaned, "Oh, God" and left the room.

Mason turned and ordered Tyler to not move from the couch. He went and helped Carol take a sedative and get to sleep. He promised her with a meaningful look that he would take care of Tyler also. Carol looked pain for a moment and then told Mason that she trusted him completely. Mason frowned thinking of his recently widowed sister-in-law tossed to the floor by her own son. This couldn't happened again.

Tyler flinched when he heard the door open behind him. He had tried to straighten out some of the things he had broken on his dad's desk. His rage had faded to a deep sadness and now shame.

"Uncle Mason, I didn't mean to freak her out. I don't know why I get like this," Tyler trembled.

"She's okay, man. She took some pharmaceuticals and is sleeping," Mason said leaning against his late brother's desk.

"Oh God, if my dad knew what I'd just done, he'd kill me," Tyler cried guiltily.

"No, Tyler, he wouldn't kill you. He loved you. I know that I missed the last seven years, but you were everything to him," Mason said to his teary eyed nephew.

"We had just started to get along better. I used to think he hated me at times," Tyler admitted.

"Tyler, did your dad tell you about our dad? How he was with us?" Mason said uncomfortably.

"That he used to beat you? Yeah, he finally told me about it last month. I got in this fight at the Founder's Day ball and he slapped me across the face pretty hard. I ran away and then we came home and made up. It's funny because he beat my ass, but it wasn't like in a cold way...like before when he'd yell at me or just ignore me," Tyler said struggling to explain what had happened to heal their relationship.

"That's what I fought with your dad about. When you were about ten, I could tell that he was starting to treat you so cold like, he was distancing himself. I could see him pulling away. Like with our dad, he was either beating the hell out of us or ignoring us, there was nothing in the middle. I told him he needed to get some therapy or something before he destroyed your relationship. He told me that it was none of my business. I lost my temper and punched him..." Mason said squeezing his eyes shut.

"And that was the last time you saw him," Tyler asked wide-eyed. He had never known what happened to make his uncle disappear.

"Yes, I have to live with that now. I'm glad to hear that you got to repair your relationship," Mason said honestly.

"Yeah, well, if he saw what I did to mom, I'm sure I'd get worse than that little paddle they started using on me again," Tyler mused.

"Oh, yeah, that creepy hand thing! Didn't I whack you with that a time or two?" Mason joked.

"Yeah, I think when I drove off in your trunk?"

"Okay, you know you were a bratty ass kid?" Mason chuckled.

"Still am, I guess. Uncle Mason, are you going to..." Tyler couldn't bring himself to finish.

"Whup your ass for knocking over your mom?" Mason said pointedly.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think?" Mason asked raising his eyebrows.

"That I need to learn to control my temper. How did you learn? I mean, you got the chill gene or something," Tyler wondered.

"Nope, I got the curse of this terrible temper like we all did. But your grandpa's strap did help me learn that it wasn't worth it to blow up. He'd bend us over this very desk and whale on us until we were hoarse. Believe me, there were weeks I could barely sit and I finally learned the hard way," Mason grimaced.

"Are you going to do that to me? I mean I hate myself when I lose control. Maybe I deserve it?" Tyler trembled, he wasn't sure he could take it.

"Hey, hey, no. I would never...Your dad never wanted you to know what it was like to fear him like we feared our father. I burned that strap when the old bastard died. But I have a hard hand and maybe a few licks of my belt will teach you the error of your ways," Mason smiled soberly.

Tyler nodded, not sure what to do now. A few hours ago, Mason had shared his dad's flask with him, now he was going to belt him?

"Come on, I guess you're too old to go over my knee, huh? Lean over the couch, wait? Forgetting something?" Mason said indicating Tyler's jeans.

Tyler didn't want to mention that he had just been over his dad's lap a few weeks before. A least someone realized he was almost a man.

"Really, come on, Uncle Mason. You said you have a hard hand, I'll feel it over my pants," Tyler pleaded lamely.

"I'm going to start counting and each count is another whack with my belt," Mason promised.

Tyler gave up and unbuttoned his pants with trembling fingers. Mason yanked down Tyler's jeans and boxers to his knees. He felt sick and weak knowing that his white backside was about to be turned red. Mason helped guide him over the arm of the leather couch. Tyler's hands were supporting him and he felt Mason's hand on his back.

"Ready?"

Tyler nodded and tried not to clench. He knew that would hurt worse.

Smack!

Tyler's head popped up in alarm. Mason was not pulling back and Tyler's bare seat was ablaze.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

If Mason's hand hadn't been holding him down, Tyler would have popped up. He wiggled and started to stomp his feet to try to alleviate the sting.

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

My God, this man was spanking him hard. In a panic, Tyler tried to bring his hand up to protect his bottom. Mason pinned his hand and yelled, "None of that, keep still. If you don't settle down, I'm going to have to put you over my knee."
Mason made sure to swat in a random pattern so the boy wouldn't know where to anticipate the next smack. He could see how much Tyler loved his mother. He knew he had to do a through job to help the kid alleviate the guilt and pain he was feeling.

Mason's hand was starting to hurt, but he kept whacking steadily.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

"Stay in position. Last warning," Mason thundered. He was having trouble holding him.

Tyler was thrashing around with everything in him. He couldn't take the pain in his behind and was using his feet and his one arm still on the couch to push himself up.

"That's it! I guess I need to tan your behind like a little boy," Mason said sharply. He grabbed his nephew's arm and dragged him over his right knee. He threw his right leg over to pin Tyler's legs.

"No, I'm sorry. I will stop. I'm not a kid. Please Uncle Mason, I won't do it again," Tyler yelped as Mason peppered his behind with sharp, stinging swats.

"Give me your hands. Now!" Mason demanded. This was wearing them both out.

Tyler reluctantly put his hands behind his back for his uncle to pin. With his legs restrained, he couldn't move at all. All he could do was take the spanking and pray it was over soon.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

"Are you learning a lesson here?" Mason asked slowing the swats a bit.

"Yes, yes, stop!" Tyler wailed.

"You don't tell me when to stop spanking you, little man. I will decide that," Mason lectured bringing his hand down in the middle of the increasingly red backside in front of him.

"What are you going to do the next time you get angry?" Mason went on.

"Think of how much my ass hurts right now!" the hysterical boy shouted.
Mason cracked a smiled and said, "Watch your language. You shouldn't curse when you are over someone's knee."

"Fuck! Please, I will control myself, stop," Tyler was now breaking. He started to sob. He felt like the spanking was never going to end although it had only been a few minutes.

"What did I just say?" Mason said, punctuating each word with a spank.

Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap!

"Sorry...Ow...Please stop," Tyler howled, still trying to thrash around.

"I guess it's time for the belt. My hand doesn't seem to be getting through to you," Mason said stopping to a second. In truth, his hand was sore and he needed a break. Tyler was a mess, too.

"I'm going to let go of your hands, okay. Do not try to get up!" Mason warned. Tyler was afraid to try to rub and put his hands on the floor that he had been staring at. He vowed to burn this expensive Persian carpet when he had a chance.

Tyler heard Mason slide his belt out and he couldn't help but try to wiggle off his uncle's lap. He had never been swatted with a belt, but his backside ached and stung like a thousand bees were attacking him. If Mason's leg wasn't still holding him in place, it may have worked.

Mason was faster and brought the doubled over belt down with a crack right across Tyler's sit spots.

The fire blazed hot and Tyler's hoarse throat let out a scream.

"Owwww...No! God, I'm sorry," Tyler said sobbing.

"You will tell your mama that tomorrow. But right after I'm down whipping your behind, you are going right to bed," Mason promised.

Tyler's backside was a deep red. Mason applied another crack a bit lower than the last one on Tyler's upper thighs. Tyler would feel this if he tried to sit down for the next day or so.

Tyler seemed to be crying too hard to talk.

"Three more," Mason said. He had to steel himself to finish. He knew from experience how much this hurt.

Whap! Another red mark appeared below.

The last two would have to be over previously spanked areas. Crack! Crack!

Mason brought the belt down crisply two last times to the center of Tyler's rear. The boy bucked and wailed and then seemed to go limp.

Mason dropped the belt and rubbed the boy's back. His backside looked blotchy and swollen. For a moment, he worried that he had been too hard on him. Then, he remembered Carol's look of fear when her own son pushed her. Although his brother was gone, Mason felt that he would have approved of how he dealt with this.

"Shh, it is over. Tyler, you are forgiven. Let it go. You made a mistake and paid the price. Did you hear me? I want an answer, young man," Mason said as he helped Tyler up.

"Yeah!" Tyler croaked.

Spank! Spank! Spank! Mason swatted him lightly.

"Yes, sir, I understand," Tyler correctly himself to avoid another hand spanking.

"Do you think you can handle pulling up your pants?" Mason asked tenderly.

Tyler shook his head and Mason helped him completely pull them off. He grasped the boy in front of him tightly.

"Tyler, I mean it, you need to forgive yourself. You can talk to your mom tomorrow, but no more beating yourself up. When you get mad and want to freak, think of my belt on your bare behind, okay?" Mason advised.

"I will do anything to avoid that thing, it makes that paddle seem like a feather. I really didn't want to go over your knee, but I couldn't stay still. I am never going to sit again," Tyler whined.

Mason pulled him into a hug.
"You are going to be okay. I know it hurts a lot," Mason shared.

"You got it worse. It stings but I feel better, you know, inside. I couldn't have faced my mom without being punished. Now I know we can move on," Tyler said.

"You already have, Tyler. Now let's get you to bed. I don't think you want the housekeeper to see you sporting a bright red ass tomorrow morning," Mason teased.

"Don't worry, she already has, but I am tired. And..." Tyler began.

"Yeah, Tyler?"

"Thanks, Uncle Mason. I know you didn't really want to do that," Tyler said quietly.

"Hey, I'm here to help," Mason said with his arm around his nephew.

Neither one of them noticed the shadowy figure at the window. Klaus had watched the whole scene silently. He had caught word that the moonstone he needed for his ritual was in the mansion. However, he thought he might have found something more valuable: a brother for Jeremy.