Mystic Falls, 2010.

AS BELLA HAD EXPECTED, her brothers pulled her back into another interrogation session first thing in the next morning. They demanded an explanation after the stunt she pulled last night, and they wouldn't let her leave the room before they got it.

"So?" Damon urged, looking impatient as usual.

Bella rolled her eyes and spoke in a lazy tone, "Once upon a time, there was this girlㅡ"

"Bella," Stefan interjected in a warning tone.

"Ugh, Fine!" She groaned, hands up in giving up gestures. But before she jumped up to her explanation, she went to pour herself a drink first. And after taking a sip on her glass, she began, "As you already know, Katherine is a bitch to everyone. She has been pissing off countless people over the centuries." She took another sip, licked her lips, then stared at the glass for a moment. "In 1902, I came across her and made a really stupid decision; trusting her. For almost a year I just... tagged along with her."

"What happened then?" Stefan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One day, she tricked me into helping her escape from her biggest enemy... and I've been marked ever since." She tried to keep her explanation as short as possible since she didn't really feel like sharing the details with them. It wasn't because she didn't trust them, it was more because she didn't think telling them about it would do any good. She took a deep breath before continuing, "And the only way I can make amends for them is by helping them to catch Katherine, alive."

"Wait, if they were Katherine's biggest enemy, they would have wanted her dead too, wouldn't they?" Damon muttered, and then speculated, "Doesn't that mean we will be doing them a favor by killing her?"

She shook her head. "No, they would like to make her suffer in their own term." Rubbing her forehead, Bella continued, "Like I said before, death will be too kind for her."

"What else do you know about this 'them'?" Damon questioned again, head tilted to the side.

She shrugged and for some reason chose to lie, "Just that they are very old vampires. And we all know older means stronger, so..." Taking another sip, she emptied her glass.

Stefan stole a glance at his watch and muttered, "I'm late for school." He quickly stood up and put up his sling bag on his shoulder. "Let's talk again later?" He looked at his siblings in turn, then walked away.

Damon cleared his throat as he walked closer to his little sister. "I just have one more question."

"We both know it doesn't matter whether or not I agree to hear your question," she retorted and put her empty glass back to the table. "So just shoot, or whatever."

"Why aren't you telling us about this in the first place?" he queried.

She cackled in disbelief. "I told you, I don't want to drag you or Stefan into my mess."

"Oh, how sweet of you," he responded sarcastically, eyes narrowed at her suspiciously.

She just gave him a nonchalant shrug. "Believe whatever you want, Damon, but I'm telling the truth." And without waiting any reply, she flashed herself towards her room.

Bella might not being entirely honest about the whole Katherine's biggest enemy thing, but she meant it when she said she didn't want to drag them into her mess. After all, it was one of the reasons why she chose not to be with them for over a century.

Around the noon when nobody was home, she decided to go check on Katherine. Damon told her that Katherine was trapped in the tomb underneath the church ruins right now. Ironically, that place was exactly where she was supposed to be in 1864. Karma was a bitch, but it wasn't indiscriminate, was it?

"Katherine," Bella called cheerfully after moving the tomb door. On the other side of the door, there was only a dark alley as far as her eyes could see. She tried to take a peek inside as she continued in a sing-song voice, "Come out, come out wherever you are."

Slowly, Katherine came out from the dark alley. Bella couldn't help but smile in satisfaction to see how dirty and miserable she looked right now.

"I didn't realize I have a visitor," Katherine responded, looking at Bella with her usual sinister gaze.

Bella's smile turned into a smirk. "I couldn't possibly miss the opportunity to see you so helpless, could I?"

Katherine's jaw tightened, and so did her fists. She looked angry, but Bella knew Katherine was more angry with the situation rather than with her.

Sighing quietly, Katherine sat down on the ground. She swallowed hard as she spoke, "Look, I know you're mad at me for what Iㅡ"

"Honey, I'm not mad at you," Bella interjected with her sweet voice. There was an angry glint in her eye. "I'm furious. I pretty much feel like punching you every time I heard your name."

The corner of Katherine's lips curled into a lopsided smile as she quipped, "And you said you didn't have any tamper."

"To others? No." Bella gritted her teeth and faked a broad smile. "To you? I have plenty of them."

"Oh, I'm flattered."

Bella narrowed her eyes in disbelief. She couldn't believe how Katherine managed to act bitchy like usual even in her current situation.

"By the way, I'm so sorry about that boy of yours," Katherine said again, with a fake sympathy. "I heard Klaus buried his body at sea."

Her body tensed at the mention of that. Her chest suddenly felt tight. And Bella had to do her best to keep her expression calm so that Katherine wouldn't notice how much the subject was affecting her.

"But uh, I guess it was more a good news for you rather than a bad one, since you've been running from him too for um, what, 40 years?" Showing off her famous bitchy smirk, Katherine sure as hell knew that she had pushed the right button.

Bella looked away, suddenly regretting her decision to come. She didn't want to talk about that. Especially not with Katherine.

"Do you really think I wouldn't find out about your affair with a certain Original?" Katherine drawled and let out a mocking laugh. "Since the only reason why you wanted to tag along with me back then was because you knew I've been able to run away from his brother for over centuries. You thought you had a better chance of running away from him too if you stick with me."

Never once did Bella told anyone the real reason why she chose to tag along with Katherine a century ago. She usually just said that she was being stupid and naive. But Katherine somehow managed to figure out that part by herself.

"I have to admit, it was a really smart move," Katherine remarked.

"Actually it was my dumbest move," she retorted as she finally found a comeback. Her smirk grew back as she gave her a scornful look. "But at least I can fix it now."

Katherine knew exactly what she meant by fix it. "You wouldn't," she retorted, eyes widened in fear.

"Wanna bet?" Bella challenged.

Katherine stood up right away. "If you tell him about me, he will come here right away. He will find out about the doppelganger. And since both of your brothers are so hell bent on saving her, and Klaus will stop at nothing to get what he want, it's not just me who will be doomed," she sounded more panic than before.

Bella let out a mocking laugh and shook her head in disbelief. As usual, Katherine tried to save herself by using other people. "You think I didn't know you intended to do the same thing? That you were gonna hand her over to be killed, no matter if it meant my brothers would also die trying to save her?" she sneered. She couldn't help but look at her in disgust. "You never care about them. You only care about yourself."

"You know that's not true," Katherine denied. "I care about them, especially Stefan. But I've been running from Klaus for 500 years now and I'm getting tired of it." She paused as she took a deep breath. Her expression then suddenly changed. "If you help me out of here, I'm sure we can figure out something that can help us get our freedom back," she negotiated. "Isn't that what you want? Because it's sure as hell what I want. And I think you know that having me as an ally will be a huge help to get that."

"Well here's the thing; I'm not an idiot. I won't make the same mistake," Bella asserted and took a step closer so she could said what she wanted to say right in front of her face. "And I also don't give a shit about what you want, Katherine. You got me into this mess. And it was you who got yourself into this mess. So if you think for just a second I would fall again for your trick, you're really out of your mind."

"Bella, no, wait!" Katherine shouted in panic when Bella started closing the door back. "Please don't tell him!"

She just ignored her and started walking away.

To be honest, she couldn't decide if the whole 'Katherine trapped in the tomb' was a good thing for her plan or not. Her main goal was to hand Katherine over to Klaus so that she would get her freedom back. But now how she was supposed to do that if Katherine was trapped in the tomb? Because she knew for a fact that if Klaus came to Mystic Falls, Katherine wasn't the only who would be doomed. And she would never do anything to harm her brothers.

All of these situations made her feel frustrated. That was why she decided to have some fun by clubbing and hunting almost all night. But by the time she got home at the next day, she was overrun with bad news.

It all started with the appearance of a vampire named Rose. Apparently, the woman got stuck in the exact same situation as Bella and was caused by the same mistake; trusting Katerina Petrova. The difference between them was that Rose tried to use the other doppelganger for her freedom. Bella could have done the same thing, but she realized how unfair it was for Elena since it wasn't the Gilbert girl who got her into the situation.

The bad news went on as her brothers told her about their encounter with one of The Originals, Elijah, and that they tried to kill him, in which they believed they had succeeded. But Bella knew better than to believe how easy it was to kill an Original. For all she knew it was only a matter of time before Elijah, or even worse Klaus, came to them since they had found out about the new doppelganger. And when that happened, they were as good as dead.

As they started discussing about their current situation based on what Rose knew, Bella tried hard not to interject. But it was really hard to do that when she secretly knew everything. Elijah might not be as strong as Klaus, but he was definitely not an easter bunny compared to Klaus. And Klaus wasn't even the oldest. It looked like Rose was right to call it 'vampire craps' since only one of those things was right.

"Um, brothers?" she finally called out to get everyone's attention. When all eyes suddenly fell on her, she cleared her throat and looked at her brothers in turn. "Do you remember what I told you yesterday, about Katherine's biggest enemy?" She swallowed hard. "It was him, Klaus. He's real."

THE REALIZATION OF HOW DOOMED THEIR SITUATION WAS making Bella's head feel like it was going to explode. She really wanted to regret her decision to return to Mystic Falls, but then again she had been away from her brothers for too long. And she couldn't exactly just leave now, not after knowing the situation they were facing.

But she also didn't want to just sit back and watch it all happen. She wanted to be able to do something. That was why she tried to come out with a plan.

One of the best time for her brain to work was when she was feeling relaxed. So there she was, at Mystic Grill, a popular hangout for teenagers and young adults in town. After trying to make herself comfortable on one of the bar stool, she ordered a shot of bourbon to the bartender. And just as Bella had expected, instead of giving her the order, the bartender asked for her ID. Rolling her eyes, she decided to just compel him.

"You're lucky he's not on vervain."

The blonde girl swiftly looked to the side, spotting the youngest Gilbert as he sat on the bar stool next to her. Raising an eyebrow at the boy, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"The same reason as everyone," Jeremy answered, eyes on the bartender who was pouring Bella a shot. He gave the bartender a small nod as he added, "to hangout."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Let me rephrase the question, why are you sitting next to me?"

"It's empty," he stated the obvious and shrugged. He then glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "And you seem like you could use a friend."

"And what makes you think you are qualified as a friend?" she questioned again, using an air-quote at the last word.

Jeremy sighed and turned his body completely to face her. "Look, I don't know what's your problem with me, butㅡ"

"Let me give you a hint; I don't like you." She gritted her teeth and sent him a death glare as she continued, "So why don't you just get lost?"

Jeremy gulped and for a moment just stared at her in confusion. He then stood up and started walking away.

Running one hand through her hair, Bella used her other hand to pick up her shot. While enjoying the hard liquor, she could feel someone's eyes watching her from the pool table. And when she turned her face to check, it turned out to be the same Gilbert boy that annoyed her earlier.

Bella groaned in annoyance, then started scanning the rest of the room. After making sure no one was really paying attention, she flashed herself right in front of the boy. "Hasn't anyone told you that staring is rude?" she said dryly.

Jeremy gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um..."

"What? Cat got your tongue?" she sneered, eyes looking at him intimidatingly.

The Gilbert boy cleared his throat and tried to find the right word. "Sorry, I'm just..."

"If you don't stop staring at me, I will poke your eyeballs out and make you eat them."

Surprisingly, Jeremy found a reply to the threat in instant, "Then you wouldn't be able to compel me when you needed to."

"And why would I need to compel you?" she questioned in disbelief. "I thought I made it clear I don't want anything to do with you."

"Then do it," he challenged briefly.

She narrowed her eyes as she warned him, "Don't tempt me, Gilbert."

"Why not? Afraid you can't live up to your whole mean-girl facade?"

Usually, when she started acting like a bitch to people, their feeling got hurt and they wouldn't dare to bother her. But in a few cases, there were some people who were too dense to take the hint and some others thought she was just playing 'hard to get'. The question was; which one was it in this case?

Luckily, she knew a way to find out.

Bella took a few steps closer at Jeremy, leaving only a little distance between them. While trying to maintain an eye contact, her hand went up to caress his cheeks. She tried hard to hold back her laughter as she watched him swallowing hard, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat. And slowly, Jeremy's confused and nervous gaze shifted from her eyes to her lips.

"Looks like someone has a crush on me," she said mockingly, then took a step back.

She had lived for 160 years with a face that people considered attractive. It wasn't the first time someone secretly has a crush on her. In fact, she had lost count of how many heart she had (not literally) broken.

Jeremy looked away and stammered, "Uh, I-I don't know what're you talking about."

Bella rolled her eyes and chose to ignore his little denial. And suddenly, an idea popped up in her pretty head.

Folding her hands across her chest, she proposed, "Tell you what, if you stop being so annoying and prove yourself to be useful, I might change my mind about you." The corner of her mouth curled into a grin. "I might even consider to go on a date with you."

Jeremy scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. "Now you're just flattering yourself."

"Am I?" she teased and narrowed the distance between them again. "You really think I couldn't hear your heart beating rapidly right now?" Her finger then started moving from his broad chest to his jaw in a seductive motion. "Or that your blood rushed to your cheeks when I touch you like this?"

Bella smirked when Jeremy couldn't even blink at her. Turning away, she decided to leaving him speechless.

She didn't even try to find a toy and yet she got one. Sometimes, life was funny like that.

When she got home at the night, she didn't expect to saw her brother and Rose, kissing and trying to rip off each others clothes in the library. But what she didn't expect more was the news they gave her in the next morning.

Her brothers planned to lift the spell from the moonstone so that the ritual couldn't happen, so Klaus couldn't sacrifice Elena. They had the Bennett witch on their side, and had already made plans to get the moonstone from Katherine. But they had clearly forgotten the part where Klaus was going to get back at them for ruining his plan by killing every single one of them including their precious Elena.

Bella tried to talk them out of it, but they didn't want to listen. Instead they bagged her to help them get the moonstone from Katherine. At first, she intended to refuse. But then she realized if she could get her hands on the moonstone first, she could protect it from them. She knew that would mean betraying them again, but they didn't leave her much choice. She couldn't just sit back and watch them waste their life for one girl.

But just like any other plans, someone had screwed it up. And it happened to be the boy who she just found out had a crush on her, Jeremy. He somehow thought he could sneak past a 500 year-old vampire, get the moonstone, and get out safely, all by himself. He might have managed to do the first two, but guess where did that get him now?

Meanwhile Bonnie and Stefan focused on saving the Gilbert boy's ass, Bella tried to find an opening to snatch the moonstone from Bonnie's hand. The young witch might not strong enough to lift the spell, but she surely strong enough to gave Bella an aneurysm if she tried to steal the moonstone from her.

Her opportunity finally came when Bonnie failed with the spell and almost passed out. But before Bella could do anything, Stefan suddenly vamp-sped into the tomb, saving Jeremy from Katherine.

"Stefan!" she yelled at her brother in disbelief.

"It's okay, Bell," he tried to calm her. "Just help them with the moonstone."

Bella really couldn't understand her brother at all. How could any of this was okay? He was trapped in the tomb with an evil slut vampire. And the only witch on their side had just proven that she was unable to lift the spell from that place.

But of course, she wouldn't just give up on her brother. For all she knew, witches always found a new way with magic. So Bonnie was still their only key. And all she had to do was push the Bennett witch into find another ways to get Stefan out the tomb. However, she knew better than to threaten Bonnie directly since the young witch was more than capable of defending herself.

So there she was, standing in front of the Gilberts' house, waiting for someone to open the door.

"Bella..." Jeremy muttered in surprise when he opened the door and found the blonde girl at his porch.

She gave him her cynical smile as she retorted, "Are you gonna invite me in or what?"

He quickly looked down, guilt all over his face. "I'm really sorry for what Iㅡ"

"If you're really sorry, then you have to let me in," she quickly interjected.

For a while, Jeremy just fell silent. Between the mix of feeling he had right now, the guilt was predominant. He knew exactly that he deserved to face her wrath since he was the reason Stefan was trapped in the tomb right now.

Taking a deep breath, he finally said, "You can come in."

And without wasting any time, Bella lunged in and pushed Jeremy against the wall. "Does your brain really have a function or is it just a display?" she said through her gritted teeth. Her hand then grabbed his throat roughly. "I always knew you were stupid, but I didn't realize you could be this idiot." She tightened her grip on his throat, making it difficult for him to breath. "And now because of that, my brother got stuck in the tomb, with Katherine of all people."

She finally let go of his throat when his eyes started turning red.

Jeremy touched his own throat and started coughing. "I didn't mean for that to happen," he stated between his coughing.

Bella was really close to end Jeremy's life once and for all, since she secretly already got his ring off from his finger without him noticing, but she realized his death wouldn't do any good right now.

After taking a deep breath to reduce her anger, she grabbed her jaw and forced him to look straight into her eyes. "Here's what's gonna happen; you're gonna make sure that little voodoo witch of yours do anything she could to get my brother's out of the tomb." She then showed him the Jonathan Gilbert's ring on her other hand. "Or else, I'm gonna end you myself."

Jeremy's eyes widened. He looked at his left hand and didn't find his ring in there. "How did you...?"

"Way too easily," she bragged, smirking.

Suddenly, a car pulled over outside the house. She could hear Damon's voice in the driver's seat all the way from the house, and of course, it was Elena who was on the passenger seat.

"My other brother's here," Bella informed and threw the ring to Jeremy's face. "I'll let you tell them yourself." And a second later, she flashed herself out from the back door.

a/n:

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