Author's note: A quick trip to the Prison World! Final chapter of calm before the major storm. I won't say much in terms of spoilerage...but secrets are about to come out and things are gonna get very...intense. Happy reading!
"So what's the contingency if Harry Potter, here, doesn't deliver on his deal?" Damon hovered over Bonnie's shoulder as she handed the ascendant over to Kai.
Rolling her eyes, the hybrid elbowed him hard in the stomach, causing the man to double over and back away. She opened her mouth, ready with a scathing retort, but Kai beat her to the punch.
"I think you'll recall, I'm not the one who doesn't hold up his end of the deal," the hybrid replied with a toothy grin. "And we all know I know how to do this because, well...you're here, aren't you?"
Lips pressed into a thin line, Damon merely squinted at the words and sauntered his way back to Elena. "Be that as it may, I have decided to accompany you and Elena when we go."
Smile effectively wiped off his face, Kai sneered at the vampire. "Are you kidding me? No way. I'm not an air travel service. You can't just decide you want to come along."
"What, one extra person too much for your hybrid juju? I thought the two of you were the ultimate, all-powerful witchy union." He wiggled his fingers in front of him with a look of faux awe plastered on his face. "The Witch King and Queen."
Instead of getting offended, Kai merely smirked at the other man. "So glad you understand who you're talking to. And to answer your question, we could take you, but we're not gonna."
"And why is that?"
"Because we don't like you." Kai's response earned a loud snort from Caroline, who'd been quietly watching the exchange. Damon scowled at her reaction, his countenance becoming even surlier. Instead of deterring her, it just made Caroline's muted laughter come out as a squeaky giggle.
"Et tu, Barbie?" Damon asked sardonically. "You hate him, too, remember?"
Face dropping abruptly, Caroline seemed conflicted between her promise to, and faith in, Bonnie and the fact that Damon was right. Before this all happened, Kai had definitely been on her shit list.
Clearly becoming better at reading emotional cues, the hybrid in question came to the blonde vampire's defense. "That's fair," he said with a chuckle. "I did a lot of hateable things. But you guys aren't angels, either."
Caroline offered a conciliatory smile, which made Bonnie's heart soar. Sometimes, she was so in awe of her friends' abilities to forgive and move forward.
The mocha-skinned woman glanced over at Damon with a raised eyebrow. "Elena's already coming with us, Assface. You trust her, don't you?"
"Elena going is precisely the reason I'm coming with." The raven-haired man shifted so that he was slightly in front of his girlfriend, instinctively protecting her. "I trust her. I have no reason to trust you."
"Well, I have zero reason to trust you and yet Kai believes that you'll help us once we get Jeremy back, so why don't you shut the fuck up before I rip your dick off and make you eat it," Bonnie snapped loudly, fed up with his antics.
Damon's crinkled his nose in disgust before putting his hands up in defeat. "Hybrids play weird sex games. And noted, but I'm still going."
Before a full-blown argument could ensue, Elena stepped between the two opposing sides, a hand shoved against Damon's chest. She took a long look at her boyfriend, eyes blazing. "Damon, stop. I can't risk any of us fighting right now, so shut up." Bonnie was surprised at the behavior she was seeing. She'd never seen her so firm, so angry. "If Kai changes his mind because of you, I will never forgive you, so cut the bullshit." Eyes softening as she turned back to her hybrid friend, Elena offered her a small smile. "And I trust Bonnie. That's all that matters." She shoved him back and away from the other two. "You're not going, Damon. Deal with it."
His eyes widened in offense before he grabbed a bottle of bourbon off the end table by the couch and stormed off to lick his wounds. Elena whirled around to face the rest of the group, paying no more mind to the retreating form.
"You're...not gonna go after him?" Kai asked, jutting his chin in the direction of the dark-haired vampire.
The younger woman merely laughed sardonically. "Look, I love Damon, I do. But getting my brother back is more important than anything and I can't have him ruining it because he can't get his head out of his ass long enough to understand that we need to work together."
Caroline looked at her friend like a proud mother. "I love when she acknowledges how much he sucks." She said the words as an almost silent whisper, so the only ones to hear her were the vampires in the room. Stefan chuckled softly in response while Kai and Bonnie merely smiled, not wanting to alert Elena of what was transpiring. "When are we heading to the underground cave thingy?" She spoke up this time so the raven-haired woman could hear her.
"It's gonna get dark soon, so we should get going. I don't want to miss the window," Kai responded, pocketing the contraption. He glanced over at the three, now standing next to each other. "Mind if we leave Asshat behind? Gotta be honest, he's a mood killer."
When nobody objected, Kai breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed Bonnie's hand before heading towards the foyer. "I'm going to get the car. I'll meet you outside in a few."
Once the front door shut behind him, Bonnie turned back to her friends. "Thank you guys, for trusting him. I know it's not easy and there's a lot of bad blood here. But he's going to get Jeremy out. And if you can't trust that, you can trust that I will bring him back."
Surprisingly, it was Stefan who spoke up. "We've worked with worse people. I mean, Klaus comes to mind." He looked at Caroline, who immediately became fixated on picking a piece of lint on Elena's shirt. Shaking his head with a smirk, his attention went back to Bonnie. "And he's come through for us a few times. He sent Freya to help you. So...I guess we can trust that even villains will do anything for the people they care about."
Even with her limited knowledge about the Klaroline of it all, the hybrid could read the subtext in his words. Her heart warmed when Stefan reached out to lace his fingers with the blonde, effectively showing her his support of her bond with Klaus. Bonnie knew that the younger vampire had been concerned about how Stefan felt about her connection with the other man. This was, no doubt, a huge weight off her shoulders.
Giving the couple their moment, Bonnie tugged on the hem of Elena's sleeve to lead her outside. "And you? You're okay?"
The long-haired brunette smiled sweetly. "Bonnie, in a few hours, I'm gonna get to hug my brother." She let out a tinkle of a laugh. "This is one of the best days of my life." Throwing herself into the hybrid's personal space, she wrapped her arms around Bonnie and squeezed with all her might. She sniffled, tears of joy gathering in the corner of her eyes. "Thank you so much."
"I didn't do anything."
"Because of you, Kai is bringing Jeremy back. I don't care how he came to that decision, Bon. I just care that he's doing it. You did everything."
Smiling broadly, Bonnie pulled away and nodded towards the door. "Come on, let's go reunite you with your brother."
"And how will you get back here, again?" During the entire car ride and subsequent trek into the cave, Caroline had inundated Kai with a barrage of questions, clearly concerned for the safety of her friends.
To his credit, the hybrid took the questions in stride, only once looking like he might throw himself out of the car (which was fortunate for the rest of them considering he was the driver).
"There's a mirror ascendant in the Prison World." He spoke slowly, almost as though explaining to a small child. "Once we're there and we grab Jeremy, we'll take that ascendant and be back here in time for breakfast."
"Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot, Jackass," Caroline snapped, arms crossing over her chest. "You're taking two people I care a lot about into some parallel universe. Excuse me for wanting to make sure I understand exactly what's going to happen."
"And I totally understood where you were coming from the first three times you asked, but at this point, I'm thisclose to snapping your neck so I can have a little peace from your stupid fucking questions." He spoke back sharply. The irritated look on Bonnie's face caused him to shrink back a bit, but he didn't soften his tone. "What, you're gonna tell me you're not annoyed? It's like listening to the teacher drone on in Peanuts."
Bonnie had felt a pleasant flutter in her stomach when Caroline had made allusions to their friendship, but even she understood where Kai was coming from. "Care, we're going to be fine. Kai's right. With the ascendant and my blood, getting there and back is a non-issue. I promise we know what we're doing."
Seemingly placated, Caroline nodded and held her hands out for Bonnie and Elena to take. "Okay, I trust you. We'll be waiting here for when you get back." With a final squeeze, she moved away from them to stand next to Stefan. His arm snaked around to hold her waist, thumb caressing her side to soothe her.
Bonnie held the ascendant in her hand and positioned herself under the light of the eclipse. Kai and Elena joined her on either side as she muttered an incantation to nick her palm. Forming a grip to force the blood out of the wound, she shook several drops onto the cogs. Her fellow hybrid encircled her wrist and closed his eyes to begin the incantation, focusing his energy on the metal contraption. Elena's fingers wrapped around her bicep as the magic began to encompass them, slowly lifting them into the light of the eclipse. The moment Kai finished the spell, they were seemingly sucked into some kind of vortex.
It felt overwhelming, like her body was stretching and narrowing to fit through a small hole. However, before the spell could become painful, it was over. Her feet hit solid ground and she staggered to keep her balance. Kai landed neatly next to her and Elena had to grip her shoulder to keep from face-planting.
"Is this it? Are we here?" Elena looked around, trying to gauge their surroundings. The cave they landed in was a different one; they must have made it to the correct one in Mystic Falls.
Bonnie looked down at her hand, no longer clutching the metal contraption. "Yeah, we're here. I don't have the ascendant anymore." Her eyes met Kai's and she gestured for them all to head outside. "Have the locator spell ready?"
He nodded and pulled out a vial filled with a garnet liquid. "We know he's in here in Prison-World Mystic Falls and Elena gave up some of her blood for me to create the spell." The hybrid pulled a compass from his pocket and laid it flat on his palm. Pouring the blood from the vial onto it, the metal seemed to absorb the droplets. After a few moments, it shook as though coming to life, the orienting arrow spinning dramatically in its housing. After several seconds, the arrow ceased and pointed to the right. Aligning himself in that direction, he began to walk forward. "We just need to follow it until we see him."
The two women traipsed after him into the warm night air. Kai moved quick and stealthily while Bonnie stayed behind by Elena's side. They soon left the forest behind and ended up along a quiet street. It was eerie; streetlights glowed in the night...houses were lit up like people were home. But there was nobody there but them.
Bonnie usually had to block out the sound of heartbeats and human movement, but she heard nothing but their shoes on the pavement and Elena's heartbeat next to her. It was chilling.
After several more minutes, they turned onto a familiar street. It seemed they were headed towards the Salvatore home.
Beside her, Elena began to shake as she struggled to take in breaths. She was panicking. "He's been here all alone for so long," she muttered, stifling a sob, seeming to truly realize the gravity of what her brother had been dealing with. "He's been here for months thinking we'd never know. That we'd never come save him." The young woman's knees buckled beneath her and Bonnie had to catch her under her arms.
Arms encircling Elena's back, the witch rubbed soothing circles and let herself be used as a crutch. "It's not your fault, Lena. You didn't know." She pulled back slightly to meet the girl's gaze. "What matters is we're here now and we're going to bring him home, okay? Don't focus on anything but getting to Jeremy."
Kai shuffled silently to the pair, clearly uncomfortable at having to interrupt. The guilt was evident on his face as he gazed down at the brunette. "I know it sounds so fake at this point, but I am sorry. And I hope that bringing him back can start to make up for everything." He tilted his head towards the mansion. "Your brother is there."
Elation lighting up her features, Elena strode forward with purpose, the hybrids following closely behind her.
Bonnie reached out to squeeze Kai's hand affectionately before catching up with her friend.
"Jeremy," Elena began to shout, hoping to draw her brother's attention. "Jeremy."
Bonnie made out the crunch of a tree branch behind her and whirled around to see what caused the noise. Before she could even blink, an arrow sailed through the air and pierced Kai in the chest. He dropped down to his knees, blood dripping down the side of his lip. She started to pull the arrow out, but snapped to attention when she heard another whistle through the air.
She caught the arrow before it could hit Kai.
The commotion caused Elena to turn back and run to the duo. Looking around frantically, she called out again. "Jeremy? Jeremy, please."
When he didn't come out into the open, Bonnie threw out her palm. "Motus." The rustle of clothing could be heard as Jeremy sailed through the air and landed several feet in front of them.
"Jeremy? Oh, my God, Jeremy." Elena was openly sobbing, dropping to the ground to crawl towards her brother. Before she could touch him, though, he'd scrambled back to his feet, crossbow now pointed at his sister.
"Harsh even for a murderous psychopath like you, isn't it?" he growled, aiming directly at her forehead, but his words were meant for Kai. "Who the fuck is this?"
Shock rooting her in place, Elena shook her head emphatically and tried to reach out to him again. "Jeremy, it's me, I swear. It's your sister."
"No, my sister would never work with an asshole like this," he said resolutely, chin jutting in the hybrid's direction. He backed up so that he had better positioning against the three of them. He briefly glanced at Bonnie, but paid her little mind and put his focus fully on Kai. "What are you doing here? Left me here and now, what? Felt like torturing somebody, so you decided to visit?"
"Jeremy," Kai began patiently, standing to his full height now that Bonnie had pulled the wood from his chest.
Shuffling back a bit more, Jeremy had his crossbow up and aimed, firing another arrow which the older man caught.
"Or maybe you had some mercy and found a way to actually kill me? Because I've been trying since I got left here and it doesn't fucking stick."
Elena sobbed harder at his dark words. Kai didn't attack, instead standing with palms outward in surrender. "I'm here to get you home, Jeremy. This is actually your sister, Elena. She came so you'd know this isn't a trick."
"Elena gets a new doppleganger every other week," Jeremy retorted, lightning fast reflexes having already reloaded the weapon. "You'd never willingly come back here."
"Jeremy, I know you don't believe me, but I swear I'm just here to get you out of the Prison World."
Recouping her senses, Elena stood and clung to Jeremy's elbow. "Jeremy, it's really me. Please." The younger Gilbert shook her off and twisted to re-aim at her. She rubbed hard at her tears and fought to temper herself. "I'm your sister." The words came out as a desperate rasp. "What can I…" She stepped forward, encroaching on his space. "Ask me anything. Something only I would know. I can prove it to you." Her eyes imploring, she held out her hand, hoping he would take it.
He didn't lower his weapon, but his eyes softened slightly as he took in the woman before him. He spent a moment thinking of a question. "What did you do when you found out about my first kiss?"
"I told mom and dad because I was mad that you got your first kiss before I did," she answered promptly, a fond smile gracing her features. "Because you were a shrimpy little kid and I didn't end up getting mine until high school."
The answer placated him and though he didn't lose his defensive stance, he did lower the crossbow. He turned his attention to Kai. "I tried to kill you and leave you behind. Why are you springing me out?" he asked, his tone suspicious.
"A lot of things changed in the real world," Kai answered, his arms dropping back down to his sides. "And considering I actually did leave you here, I'd say we're even."
"Psychopathic murderers don't just change."
Kai glanced quickly at Bonnie before looking back at the other man with a nod. "And usually, I'd agree with you, but like I said, a lot happened while you were in here." When Jeremy continued to look on with mistrust, he let out a resigned sigh. "And...the Scooby Gang agreed to help me with a Gemini problem if I got you out of here."
That answer finally seemed to do the trick. Jeremy's shoulders relaxed, his fight or flight response finally dissipating. "That makes a lot more sense." He returned to Elena. Now that the anger and fearful haze had lifted, his mind was clear and he looked at her almost as though seeing her for the first time. His eyes glassy, he raised his arms up a bit towards her. "Hi."
Laughing with unbridled joy, she practically tackled her brother as she threw her arms around him, hanging on for dear life. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she sobbed into his ear. "I'm sorry you were alone for this long."
Now that it finally hit Jeremy that he was no longer alone, that he could go home, he collapsed into the safety of his sister's arms, returning the embrace with the same sentiment.
Bonnie watched the reunion, her heart tightening in her chest. She felt the remnants of anger from the last several days bubble up into her chest, but she quelled the emotion. It was Kai's fault this boy had been alone for so long, but he was trying to make things right. And that's what the part she chose to cling onto.
Clearing her throat, she offered a small smile when Elena looked at her. "Kai and I are going to get the ascendant, okay? You guys head to the Salvatore mansion and catch up." She nodded in Jeremy's direction. "I'm Bonnie. I'm a...friend." The young man merely nodded in return before she retreated, tugging Kai along with her.
"You're being extra friendly," she began once they were out of earshot.
"What can I say? I'm in love with a smoking hot badass who loves me back. Life is good." He stopped her walking and playfully yanked her to him, hands cupping her neck to lean in for a slow kiss. He placed another sweet one against her forehead before pulling back with a smile. "And, to be honest, I do feel kinda bad I forgot about the whole thing and didn't let him out sooner." His expression sobered a bit. "But at least now we're all on equal footing."
"Kai Parker being oh-so-sweet to the Scooby Gang. Who would've thought it?" Bonnie kissed him again, pouring every ounce of affection she had into him. "Thank you for doing this."
"I wouldn't have done this if it wasn't for you," he said, wanting to be truthful. "I mean, I'm glad I'm doing this because they're giving me a chance and I recognize that's not a small thing. But, I never would have given him a second thought if I wasn't trying to figure out leverage for Darryl to help us."
Long ago having given up on Kai ever saying Damon's name correctly, Bonnie merely chuckled dryly. "I know, but I'm trying to take Elena's words to heart. It doesn't matter how it happened. It just matters that it happened, right?" Kai nodded in affirmation at her words. "And I think if we keep focusing on the wrong thing, we'll never move past this." She pressed her lips sweetly against his. "Come on, let's go get the Ascendant. Where is it?" They headed towards a car to use for the drive.
"In Sheila's Bennett house."
Eyebrows shooting up in surprise, Bonnie's hand stilled on the handle of the passenger door. "That's where you stayed while you were here?"
"Yeah. I went there to look for any possible Bennett blood and to siphon the magic out of whatever I could find. I ended up sticking around since...I didn't really have anywhere else to be."
"Wait, is that why you knew your way around my kitchen so well?"
"Noticed that, huh?" Kai laughed softly, getting into the driver's side.
Hopping in after him, she tugged the door shut. "I mean, you know that kitchen better than I do."
"Bonster, that's also because you have no idea how to cook." He dipped to the side when she moved to smack him and sniggered, magicking the car to life before pulling onto the road.