Chapter 24: Jesus Take The Wheel

Date: January 29, 2021

Warnings: N/A

Author's Notes: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I've been gone so long but I am also happy to see you all enjoyed the previous chapter. I was so engrossed with 'getting the chess pieces on the board' that I didn't realize until right before I posted the chapter that Bonnie was nowhere in it. That said, this chapter is a bit of a developmental chapter as things begin to heat up and transition a bit. As more characters get involved, I'll be a bit more challenged with developing them since I tend to have tunnel vision sometimes, so bear with me! Also, if you're reading my other stories, you'll know that the end of 2020 was rough as shit for me so my return to this story was a bit delayed. Thank you again for hanging in there.

Lastly, I noticed in a couple of comments/messages that a few of you were confused about the pairings in this story and believed it to be a Bamon story. Let me say that you are not crazy! When I began this story (so long ago I'm embarrassed to say), I mentioned that this could go either way and originally I planned for it to be a Bamon story, however, as the story developed, things changed and with that, so did the pairings and ratings. Even now, there is no endgame set in stone, (though I have my favorites). There's still more story to tell so keep that in mind. If that makes you want to quit reading, believe me, I get it. I've quit stories for less lol. I'd hate to see you go but I'd understand if you'd want to move on (and maybe read something else of mine, hehe).

Now, without further adieu…

After a hellish nightmare, Bonnie's eyes fluttered open. The terror of her dream paralyzed her, making it almost impossible to move. In the darkness, she could still envision Klaus's lifeless body lying at her feet. The thought unnerved her; even more so when she realized that the person responsible for his demise, was she. It was a reoccurring dream, one that she couldn't figure out. The thought of being at odds with him once again was perplexing. In the past month alone, they've gotten along so well that it was hard seeing him as anything other than an ally now. They worked well in tandem with one another and Bonnie had to admit that it was nice having someone of Klaus's caliber watching her back. She felt as though she could breathe finally and not have to worry about anyone coming to kill her—other than the occasional witch with an ax to grind.

Also perplexing was the fact that she spent the night in Klaus's bedroom. It'd never happened before. Once her needs were met, she retreated to her room, but last night was different. Last night she and Niklaus lied next to one another and talked. Hours went by and the two found more similarities between them than differences. It felt normal—too normal. The longer they talked and laughed with one another, the less inclined she was to leave his side. Increasingly, she craved his presence and felt a pull (one she no longer questioned), to be near him whenever they're apart.

And it wasn't all in her head. From what she could tell he seemed equally drawn to her as well. Bonnie noticed his 'clinginess' early on but chose to attribute it to his natural paranoia. His neediness was almost endearing. The way he not-so-conspicuously questioned her when she left the house made her giggle and while she remained elusive, she found herself sharing details of her whereabouts more often than she cared to admit.

Currently, she allowed herself to embrace the need to be close, lying in silence as she listened to his measured breaths. Whether or not he was asleep was a mystery. Upon her arrival, Klaus rarely slept, but since they've grown closer, he's comfortable enough to let his guard down long enough; and he wasn't the only one.

Sleeping under the psychotic hybrid's roof was once unthought of. When she arrived months ago, it was hard falling asleep without the assistance of alcohol. She expected him to go back on his word at any moment and anticipated an attack that never came. Now, here she was, lying peacefully next to him. She would never be able to explain this to her former self.

Loneliness was crippling. After dying and living in isolation for so long, she found it hard to be by herself. Klaus somehow managed to fill that void—fucking Klaus of all creatures! The thought of killing him now seemed as startling to her as the thought of lying next to him stark naked once was. The way her life took such a drastic turn was still giving her whiplash, but as she learned early on, it was easier to go with the flow than to fight against it.

Klaus stirred in his sleep and rolled over onto his back. Once settled, he instinctively reached out for her and to her embarrassment, Bonnie immediately leaned into his side. Of course, he knew she was there. He was a machine, always alert, always calculating.

"What's got your heart racing so early this morning? Is it me," he joked. The moment her nightmare began, he was alert. The lull of her heartbeat became erratic, immediately placing him on edge. Rather than wake her, he quietly held her in his sleep, waiting for it to pass. Sleep nearly claimed him once more, but the quietness of her thoughts rattled him. She was too still, too quiet.

"Nothing, just thinking," she responds.

"Planning to leave, are we?" He muttered against the crown of her head. The sleepiness in his voice is adorable and Bonnie tries not to smile at it.

"Yes, actually; I was about to get lost," she answered with her face pressed against his chest. She could hear a chuckle vibrate against his sternum.

"I don't bite," he denied, attempting to pacify.

"Lies," she countered with a grin. Instinctively, she squeezed her thighs shut as she thought about him biting her there hours earlier. Never in a million years did she ever think she'd be into blood play.

"The Lord knows my heart," he grinned. His fingers lazily traced patterns into the dip of her spine. The feel of her weight is therapeutic and he finds that he wants to keep her there forever. The feel of her hair tickles him all over and on instinct, his fingers find their way to her scalp. As he massaged the base of her skull, she relaxed against him, releasing soft sighs and moans periodically.

"I dreamed you turned on me and I had to kill you." Her voice was soft and barely over a whisper, but he heard her clearly. His undead heart lurched in his chest as he willed himself to inhale an unnecessary breath. After a few moments, she lifted her gaze to meet his. They stared at one another with pensive looks before Klaus broke the ice.

"Is this one of your witchy dreams?" The question was innocent enough.

"I'm not sure," she whispered. Bonnie shifted her gaze and brought her head back down to his chest. At that moment, he was thankful that he was already dead. "Is there something you're planning?" Though she posed the question as an offhanded joke, he could almost hear the uncertainty in her voice. He held her tighter as if she would slip away from him and shook his head before speaking up.

"Not a thing, Love," he reassured. A pang of guilt nestled itself deep within his chest, but Niklaus remained tight-lipped. He'd find a way to tell her about the spell in due time, he only needed to be certain he wouldn't lose her in the process.

"Why do I get the sense that you're up to something," she fished. In a swift motion, he rolled until she was on her back. In a swift motion, he had one of her thighs in his hand, pushing her knee up to her chest. When their eyes met, Bonnie smirked at the mischievous look on his face.

"That's because I'm always up to something," he confirmed before dipping below her bikini line. "Now, hold that thought." He gave no other warning before enclosing his mouth over her clitoris. Bonnie shrieked at the feel of his tongue on her sensitive areas. He wasn't down there long before she was sent over the edge due to one of his many mind-blowing techniques.

She was literally inches away from returning the favor when Niklaus heard a sound come from the courtyard. With a pained and frustrated growl, he grabbed Bonnie's face and pulled her up to meet his gaze. "Stay here," he instructed before covering her mouth with his own to squelch any protests that were bound to come. In an instant, he disappeared to follow the source of the sound. Once he made it to the clearing in the courtyard, he saw the offender and scoffed in shock.

"Egads, Brother! As if your presence isn't acrid enough, your timing is horrendously indecorous." Elijah turned towards the sound of Klaus's voice. His regret was instant.

"You're one to talk! Please tell whatever floozy you're entertaining to finish the job. You'll put an eye out with that thing," Elijah complained, covering his eyes while praying to get the image of his brother's erection out of his mind.

"She wouldn't appreciate you calling her names. Another insult and she may end you," Klaus responded with a small grin.

"I highly doubt that," Elijah scoffed.

"Think again, Elijah." At the sound of the familiar voice, Elijah spun on his heels to find an equally naked Bennett Witch descending the stairs. At the sight of her, Klaus growled, moving to block Elijah's view. Stunned beyond belief, Elijah took a second to gather his thoughts.

"Miss Bennett, it's been quite some time," Elijah spoke with obvious confusion in his voice.

"It has," Bonnie agreed. "Turned any innocent witches into vampires lately?" Elijah stilled at the venom in Bonnie's voice. She took a step further and Niklaus moved in front of her, once again, to quell the situation.

"Miss Bennett, you have my sincerest apologies for my involvement in your mother's death. Had I but known—"

"Shut up, Elijah," Klaus huffed before turning to face Bonnie. The ire in her eyes was chilling and had Klaus not been familiar with her, he'd be tempted to step aside and allow Elijah to face his demise. "Bonnie, do you mind giving us a minute? I promise you can kill him later, Love," Klaus pleaded. Though angry, Bonnie calmed enough to nod her acknowledgment before turning to disappear up the stairs. Once she was out of view, he turned to face Elijah. "There was a reason I told you to call first, Elijah."

"I see that now, Brother," Elijah said while watching Niklaus walk around naked as the day he was born. "I must say, I am astoundingly surprised. I've known you to be capable of a lot of things but even for you, this is… beyond understanding." Klaus didn't say a word to acknowledge him.

"Where's our sister," he asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"She's supposed to meet me here, however, after learning of Marcel's existence, I'd say she took a detour," Elijah provided. He watched as his brother disappeared briefly and sighed with relief when Niklaus returned wearing pants.

"I'd much rather she let me deal with Marcel. I don't need his loyal subjects rallying to end us," Klaus grumbled.

"They wouldn't get very far," Elijah threatened.

"And they call me the destructive one," Klaus teased. "I'm very capable of squashing them all should they pose a threat. However, if I want to rule this city, I'll need to leave my subjects alive, or else what would be the point?"

"I digress," said Elijah.

"You'd better," Klaus quipped. "And since you ruined what would have been a very lovely morning, I'll leave breakfast up to you. Make sure it's good, Bonnie can turn into a beast when she isn't satiated." Elijah watched in silent awe as his brother disappeared in the direction the Bennett Witch left earlier, shaking his head when he hears the witch in question squeal with delight.

To find the only witch capable of ending his entire family shacked up with his brother comes as a complete shock to Elijah. His mind began to spin with all the ways this could end for them. The witch was known to hold a grudge. With that said, he was sure Bonnie wouldn't easily forgive his involvement in Abby's demise. However, as long as she was distracted, their inevitable showdown could be postponed. It was the only solace Elijah could fin

knowing his brother was sleeping with a ticking time-bomb.

"Bloody hell, Niklaus."

-X-

Vincent sat and listened as yet another witch expressed their grievances about the dire straits their people were in. Their numbers were decimated and in terms of solidarity, they were pretty much split down the middle on every issue. The one thing they could all agree on, however, was that Bonnie Bennett had to go—or to put it very bluntly, the bitch had to die. One by one, stories were told about someone near they lost either at the hands of Marcel or Bonnie herself. His people were out for blood, there was no acting regent of the nine covens, children had been sacrificed, and no one could agree on anything long enough to create any real progress.

After hearing the last 'Kill the Bennett Bitch' monologue, Vincent had heard enough.

"We can stand here all day and express the murderous things we plan to do but let me tell you all one thing; the last meeting I was at, the people all talked the same game you're talking now and today, they're all dead. Since arriving in this city, Bonnie has made it abundantly clear that she's wanted nothing to do with any of this, and yet somehow, she's been dragged into the middle of it. Marie forced her to pick a side, Marcel used her for his agenda, and the ancestors made up some crap about her being our savior to distract us all from the real issues. No matter how it may seem, Bonnie is not your enemy. Marcel and his vampire army are. He's the one that has suppressed you; our ancestors are the ones pulling strings from beyond the grave. The witches who died in the cemetery were warned not to go up against her and in the end, their stubbornness cost them their lives. So if you want someone to blame, blame them for not listening and blame Marie and the elders for kicking the hornet's nest. They all played with fire and quite literally got burnt. Bonnie's beef isn't with us, it's with the ancestors toying with her life and with Marie and Marcel for manipulating her into situations beyond her control. We need to focus on taking back our city from this vampire and leave our fellow witch alone. Fighting amongst our own is not going to help and quite frankly, if we stand a chance against any of this, we'll need Bonnie on our side and not against us. It doesn't have to be hellfire and brimstone all the time."

Vincent's speech resonated with some and inflicted anger in others but his words were sound and truthful.

"It sounds to me like you're absolving her," Louis Alvarez of the Navarre Coven spoke. Heads turned as Louis stood to his feet to face off with Vincent. Vincent fought against rolling his eyes.

"No, I am not. Bonnie will have to answer for the things she's done, but I am not the one to bring her to heel and neither are any of you. For your own sake, let that sleeping dog lie and put your energy towards gaining our city back from Marcel's rule." Both men stared each other down until another voice interjected.

"I believe this is where I come into play." All heads turned to face none other than Klaus Mikaelson, stepping out from behind a tomb, into the small clearing where the witches were gathered. The shock of how he was able to breach their stronghold was apparent on their faces. Audible gasps could be heard as he moved through the sparse crowd.

"What are you doing here," Louis seethed. Klaus, in all his decency, faked a humbled expression as he came closer to where Louis and Vincent stood.

"To offer my assistance," Klaus enunciated each syllable since Louis seemed slow to understand. "I believe we all got off to a rough start," Klaus began, addressing the crowd. "My Bonnie-Lass can be a bit temperamental when her buttons are pushed. What you all witnessed recently was truly an oddity. Align with us and I assure you, Marcel will no longer be an issue. I will keep him occupied while you lot are free to live as you please, unabated."

"Yeah, and where do we sign, Satan?" A voice belonging to Alma Jones of the Gentilly Coven asked. Niklaus chuckled before giving her a chilling look.

"All I ask in return is that none of you make a move against myself, my family, or Bonnie and that you acknowledge me as your new king." Audible groans of disapproval echoed through the crowd but it didn't deter him.

"What makes you so different from Marcel? From what I hear, you made him who he is today," Alma countered.

"I have no interest in the affairs of witches. There isn't a witch alive that's been able to kill me so it's no matter to me to keep you suppressed," he boasted. Though even as he spoke, Bonnie's face came to mind. He ignored the smile that threatened to lift his lips. "I frankly don't give a damn if you lot live or die, however, we have a mutual interest to unseat Marcel, and honestly, what choice do you all have?" Insulted, Louis seethed at Klaus's tenacity, braving a step closer to the thousand-year immortal. Klaus raised a threatening brow, and Vincent, to his dismay, found himself stepping between the two men.

"Whoa there, easy fellas," Vincent interjected while turning to face Klaus. "A word alone, please?" Neither man had time to answer. Vincent motioned for Klaus to follow him to a secluded area of the cemetery, away from prying eyes.

"Niklaus, I'm not sure if now is the right time to barge in and make demands."

"I can do what I want, thank you," Niklaus snarked.

"Not here you can't. I'm not even sure how you've been allowed to make it this far in the cemetery but that's not the point. The point is, I'm trying to keep the witches off Bonnie's back and I can't do that with her boyfriend showing up making demands and thinly veiled threats."

"I'm flattered you think that I'm Bonnie's type," Klaus grinned. Vincent gave him a pointed look. "I haven't killed anyone yet which is a sign of good faith, I would say. I came here to broker a deal with you which is probably why your ancestors didn't put up much of a fight."

"You have no reason to broker a deal with us. You could just finish us all, so why are you really here?"

"Because I promised a certain witch that I'd ensure her survival and I can't do that in a city full of pissed off witches." Klaus's patience was wearing thin and it showed. Still, the motive behind his visit became clear to Vincent which took the edge off.

"You care about her," Vincent realized. The thought startled him.

Klaus balked. "We made a deal, nothing more." Though neither man believed the words as he said it.

"Black Girl Magic is real, I see." It was Klaus's turn to give a pointed look.

"Ideally, I'd like to see you as regent. What do you need from me to make it happen?" He was the second person to express their desire to see him on the 'throne'. A throne Vincent wasn't so apt to accept.

"I don't want to be regent," Vincent expressed. It was a responsibility he wasn't sure he could fulfill.

"Which makes you the perfect person for the job. Now again, what do you need from me?" The question sent a chill down Vincent's spine as he considered making a deal with the devil himself.

Jesus, take the wheel.

-X-

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Caroline's face turned a deep shade of red as she absorbed the news Damon delivered. "A fucking love spell? Can this get any worse?!" Caroline paced back and forth and Stefan sat in silent shock while Damon fed them the information he gathered from Sophie.

"How do we know this is true? What if the witches are somehow manipulating us?" Until now, Stefan was silent while Caroline blew a gasket. Damon watched her pace back and forth silently, he felt her anger and frustrations.

"What reason do they have to lie, Stefan? What would they gain? Better yet, if it is a lie, they'd be risking their lives for nothing. I don't trust these witches any more than you do, but I doubt they'd lie about this," Damon argued. Stefan didn't have a chance to answer as Caroline cut in.

"There's no way I'm keeping this from her!"

"Woah there, Blondie, slow down. If you tell Bonnie, I doubt she'd be able to stop herself from killing Klaus where he stands," Damon reasoned. Caroline threw her hands up.

"Good! That's the point!" Her arms made an audible smack as they landed at her sides.

"If she succeeds, we die with him," Stefan softly added. Visible realization settled on her face as Caroline muttered a soft, 'oh', under her breath.

"Jesus Christ!" Caroline huffed and plopped onto the arm of the sofa nearest her. "What are we going to do? We can't keep this from her. We have to tell her!" Panic sank deep as Caroline tried to organize her thoughts. Her mind raced with endless scenarios as she pictured over and over again how Bonnie would react once shit hit the fan.

"And we will, but we have to make sure we find a way to sever our link before we do. I've seen her in action. The moment we tell her, she could teleport out of here—which still shouldn't be possible—and ram her witchy little fists right through his chest," said Damon. He made the mistake of underestimating Bonnie in the past and vowed not to do it again.

"If she is under his spell-like they say, who's to say she'd even try to kill him? We don't know how this thing works. Who's to say she wouldn't tell him what we know and send him after us?" Stefan's speculations nearly took Caroline's breath away.

"She wouldn't do that," Caroline defended.

"That's the thing, we don't know what she'd do until we figure out how this spell works," Stefan argued.

"Well, the only person that could tell us anything is dead and I highly doubt Klaus would be forth-coming. The witch that told me didn't seem sure herself. She believed it to be just a rumor." The three of them fell quiet as their brains struggled to accept their new reality. This development threw a sizable dent in their plans.

"Who is this witch, by the way? Maybe I can get answers," Caroline offered. At their incredulous look, she elaborated. "I'll probably have better luck confronting a coven of witches than either of you. Stefan, you are still weak-willed, so you might bite into the first witch you see and Damon, you're an asshole, full offense."

"All taken," he retorted.

"You two are better off using your crass humor and brute force to dig up information on how to sever our link to Klaus," Caroline delegated. Neither of them could argue with the facts.

"If Bonnie contacts you during all of this, are you sure you'll be able to keep it together?" Stefan asked, ignoring Caroline's insults. "This is serious, Caroline, we could all die," he reminded.

"I'm not interested in spontaneously combusting so you'll have no problem with me keeping my mouth shut," Caroline promised; though it pained her to keep something so monumental from her friend, especially after finally having her back.

"Good," Damon quipped. "In the meantime, we'll work around the clock to find a way to end this evil bastard once and for all."

"Yeah, or die trying," Stefan stated wryly. At that, Damon rolled his eyes.

"Thank God we can always count on your sunny disposition, Gwen Stefani."