Katherine leaned her head against the car window and looked outside at the passing trees and blurry traffic signs. It was getting late into the afternoon, and the weather seemed to be adjusting to a new season with the constant rain. It was also getting darker much earlier in the day.

She was about to fall asleep due to the soothing rhythm of the falling raindrops hitting the car and the fact that they had to leave New Orleans at 4 am to drive to New York without stopping at a motel for the night. Of course, for Klaus, Rebekah, and Kol, that wasn't a problem. Bonnie and Katherine were the humans in need of sleep. They took turns driving because no one wanted to drive for twenty hours nonstop.

"Bonnie, how much further?" Katherine asked. Bonnie was the one behind the wheel at the moment since she had just switched places with Klaus, so she had the GPS.

"Time? I'd say about 6 hours."

Katherine sighed and leaned back against the window. They had already been driving for about 15 hours, so she started to get sick of being in a car. There wasn't much to do other than listen to the radio, at least to her, but it seemed Rebekah had found something interesting on her phone since she had been on it half the trip. Rebekah and Kol had decided to tag along for some reason, so they were a full car of five people. At the moment, Bonnie was the driver and Kol her left-hand man, while Klaus was seated in the back between Rebekah and Katherine. It was a pretty big car, so there was just enough space in the backseat for three adults.

"Why does Nik get to sit between the ladies, it's not fair," Kol pouted. He had been on his phone for most of the drive, but now all of a sudden he decided to be a bother.

"Oh shut it Kol," Rebekah snapped, not even bothering to look up from her phone. She was texting somebody, and that somebody seemed to be important since she had been glaring at the screen all day, occasionally giggling to herself.

"No one asked you to tag along Kol. Why are you two here again?" Klaus sighed.

"I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to visit The Big Apple, Nik. You know how I love this city, I made you travel with me here so many times," Rebekah said, smirking at him.

"Bekah and I are gonna have some fun while you three do your witch business."

"Fine, do whatever," Klaus shrugged at his siblings before looking over at Rebekah's phone when she suddenly started laughing to herself. "Who are you texting anyway?"

"Kol."

Klaus shook his head. "You two are unbelievable."

"Elijah didn't want to join your shopping spree?" Katherine asked jokingly.

"He has enough suits," Kol answered.

Katherine suppressed a laugh before looking outside the window again with a smile. Watching those three bicker was always entertaining.

Klaus knocked on the apartment door. It was about 1 am, and they were all exhausted. Kol and Rebekah had been dropped off about a mile away, at Times Square. Bonnie, Klaus, and Katherine had been left to walk the stairs all the way up to the 17th floor of an apartment block as the elevator was apparently out of order.

A brunette that looked like she was in her early thirties opened the door. Her lips formed into a wide, welcoming smile as she spotted her visitors. "You must be Klaus Mikaelson, it's a pleasure to meet you," the witch greeted, shaking his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, Rosetta. Do you mind if we enter?"

"Not at all, come on in."

Katherine carefully stepped into the place after Bonnie and Klaus. The apartment had a very peculiar decor, definitely a witch's place.

"Did you bring the supplies?" Rosetta asked, glancing over at Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded and showed her the small bag she was carrying under her arm.

"Great. I have the potion ready, you can lay the dark objects on the coffee table."

Bonnie did as told while Rosetta went to get something from the kitchen. Klaus stood silently in the corner and observed as the witches prepared for the spell. Rosetta put the potion next to the objects Bonnie had spread out on the table. Bonnie then picked up the cup of liquid and handed it to Katherine.

"Drink this. It will cleanse your body, and prepare you for the spell."

Katherine looked down into the cup and studied the liquid. It was clear as water, but its substance was much thicker, and it smelled like a mix of sand and mud. "I'm not drinking that before I know what's in it."

"Just trust me on this Katherine," Bonnie sighed impatiently, shoving the cup further into her face.

"Fine," she relented, emptying the cup in one sip to not dwell on the sure-to-be awful taste. She grimaced as she gave the cup back to Bonnie. "It tastes horrible."

"Well it's not exactly juice, is it?" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Let's start."

Bonnie grabbed Rosetta's hand and started channeling the objects, muttering some sort of spell from Bonnie's open grimoire. As the chanting went on, Katherine began to feel strange. It was like a force moved her organs around, making her feel sick to her stomach.

"Bonnie, what's happening," she whimpered, clutching her stomach as she was in pain.

Bonnie cast a glance over at Katherine. She didn't look too good. "It's only for a few seconds I think."

"You think?!" Katherine exclaimed. She was starting to feel a taste of metal in her mouth. "Bonnie stop the spell, this is scaring me."

She didn't answer and continued muttering the spell as it only got more powerful, air blowing violently around them, causing light objects to float around the room. As the chanting turned into screaming, Katherine suddenly started coughing up blood.

"Bonnie? Bonnie stop the spell!" Klaus yelled and rushed over to Katherine when he saw her fall to her knees towards the floor.

"It's done," Bonnie said soon after, walking over to Katherine's body to check if she had gone unconscious. "Katherine, can you hear me?"

Katherine inhaled sharply and opened her eyes, supporting herself on her elbows to look up at them. "Yes... yes I can!" she sighed, relieved as she realized she had survived the spell.

"How do you feel?" Klaus asked worriedly. He used his sleeve to wipe away some of the blood that had gotten on her face.

"I feel... great! Feed me your blood," she demanded, looking at Klaus.

"Why? So you can turn yourself again? I don't think so."

"Just trust me," Katherine sighed.

Klaus narrowed his eyes before he reluctantly bit his arm and held it over her mouth, filling it with the bittersweet taste of blood. She swallowed it and expected to throw up, but... nothing. "I'm cured!"

Klaus took her hand and pulled her up from the floor while Rosetta walked over to them. "You are now a normal human being. All magic ever used on you has washed away. There's no more aging, side effects, nothing."

Katherine smiled, feeling so relieved that it had actually worked. "Thank you."

"Helping someone close to Klaus Mikaelson is an honor on my part, so I thank you."

Katherine groaned as she sat herself up in the bed and stretched her arms. After the spell had been executed, the three of them had joined Kol and Rebekah for some fun the rest of the night before driving back the next day, and they had gotten back to New Orleans so late that they all slept until dusk.

She pulled herself out of bed and headed for the kitchen to get something to eat, running into the original hybrid by the counter.

"Katerina, you're finally up," he greeted her as she entered the room.

"Klaus. You're the only one awake?" she asked.

"No, Rebekah and Kol have been out for some time, but Bonnie's still sleeping, however. How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I could take on the world," she smirked.

Klaus chuckled. "I'm glad to hear that. And I'm glad you're finally awake, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" she asked as she poured some coffee into her mug.

"Well, since you're able to consume vampire blood again, this obviously changes things."

Katherine put down the mug of coffee and turned to face him, crossing her arms. "Obviously. And I'm completely in charge when it comes to deciding whether I want to turn again or not."

"Katerina, please. This is the exact reason I wanted to talk to you. To make sure you wouldn't do anything stupid."

"Stupid?" she raised her voice, scoffing at his words. "What's that supposed to mean? The likelihood of me surviving as a vampire is a thousand times greater than if I stay a human, even under your protection."

"What I mean is, you shall not turn yourself again. It would ruin everything."

"It wouldn't ruin anything for me, only for you! And that's what you're so scared of, isn't it?" Katherine shook her head. "Of course, I should've recalled how selfish you really are. You don't want me to turn, because then I wouldn't be beneficial to you anymore."

"I saved your life, I think you should be a bit more grateful, sweetheart," he said in a warning tone.

"Don't tell me what to do, or how to feel," she growled as she started storming back up the stairs to get away from him.

Klaus followed her, not set on ending the argument any time soon. "How am I supposed to continue my hybrid army without your blood? Build our home?"

"This isn't my home," she hissed and slammed the door to her room, shutting it in Klaus's face.

He just opened the door and closed it behind him as he entered the room after her. "Then where is your home, Katerina?"

Katherine furrowed her brows while thinking about it. He was right, and it annoyed her. She didn't have a home, a place to go back to if she left New Orleans. She had not visited her village in Bulgaria for centuries, no one liked her in Mystic Falls, and she never settled in just one place.

"It doesn't matter. If I want to turn, I will."

"You're not going to become a vampire again. Have I made myself clear?" he threatened, trying to intimidate her. She rolled her eyes. That may have worked on her some weeks ago, but not now. Klaus was starting to lose his grip on their relationship. He'd always had her wrapped around his finger, but things were different now.

"You have, but I don't care. Look, I can't live as a human, I was born to be a vampire. I don't know life outside it, and the small sliver I've experienced these past months haven't exactly convinced me that I can make it either."

"Katerina, you weren't born to be a vampire. When I first saw you, I knew that you were special. Not only because of your blood, but you also had a light in you. A light that I've only seen in a few women over the course of my life. I will always regret stealing that light from you Katerina, just like I did with Tatia."

Katherine scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. "I get it now. You don't want me to stay human only because of my blood, but because I remind you of your first lover. Is that who you see me as now? Tatia?" she asked angrily.

"No, I see you as you," he murmured and brushed his fingers along her cheek, gently caressing her face.

She flinched away from his touch and continued her rant. "Don't even try seducing me, it won't work. I won't let myself be manipulated by you anymore. I can finally turn into a vampire again, and you're trying to take that away from me!"

Klaus raised his voice now too, finally losing his cool the more she yelled at him. "Will you just shut up for once? I need to think, but I can't with all your shouting and scolding!"

"Why should I-"

"What did I just say Katerina?" he breathed, pressing her up against the wall as he pinned each of her wrists to her sides. "I don't like being disobeyed."

"And I don't like being controlled, so we're not exactly the best fit," she said sarcastically. "Do you know how I really feel about you?"

"No, enlighten me," he growled, the increasingly tighter grip around her wrists serving as a warning.

In anger, she released herself and tried to punch him. He was faster and caught her fist before it could hit his face, so she tried with the other. However, his reflexes were too fast for her, and he managed to stop her just as quickly as the last time.

"You're twice my age, it's not fair," she snarled.

Klaus smirked. "I'm also a hybrid, love, and you're a weak, little human. But go ahead, keep trying to attack me. It's a huge turn-on."

Katherine glared at him. It was bad enough that he won over her in a fight, but he also enjoyed it. She hated that infamous smirk plastered on his lips. She just wanted to...

"What's wrong Katerina? Suddenly lost for words?"

She sighed and closed her eyes, mentally cursing them both for ever allowing it to go this far. He was unbelievable. No matter what, he always managed to get under her skin.

She was still so angry with him, but his words combined with her adrenaline and raging human hormones made her long for him more than ever. She opened her eyes to look up at him and was only met with the same look as her own. She knew that sly smile of his, the lust in his eyes and the way they kept flickering down to her rosy lips. She breathed heavily and locked her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss as fiery as last time.

Klaus hungrily kissed her back and led them towards the bed in no time, pushing her down as he hovered over her and continued attacking her neck and collarbone with intense yet gentle trails of kisses. He preferred her this way. No sarcastic remarks escaping her pretty little mouth, only the sweet moans of his name.

Katherine let out a soft gasp, giving in. Her worst enemy was now her lover, but after five hundred years of miserable existence, did the difference really matter? Whenever Klaus would sweet-talk her, smirk at her, flirt with her, he had always told himself that he did it to make her uncomfortable. And she, always thinking she hated it, actually longed for more. Because he was her darkest desire, and she was his. Always and Forever.