I do not own TVD or TO or LEGACIES.
"Okay," Bonnie sighed, melting into the curve of his slick chest, "I guess I get it now." She suspected the twist of their limbs, tangled together on the narrow couch, was the only thing keeping her from thumping on the stone floor.
"Are you sure?" Pale fingers drew patterns across her dark stomach, glowing against the rich colour. "I'd be happy to demonstrate again. I don't know that you're faint enough if you can still articulate your thoughts."
"I lack the strength to move, and I'm pretty sure I'm molded to you." She rolled her neck and exaggerated a groan.
She felt him smile against her throat. Her fingers traced the contours of his hand, catching first at his ring and again at his watch band.
"Bonnie?" He kissed her shoulder.
"Hmm?" She moved back up and played with his ring.
"What are you thinking about?"
The touch of his hand became unbearably tender, drawing a million and one thoughts to the forefront of her mind. Each weighed heavier than the last. Qetsiyah's spell swirled around her mind, mingling with Elena and the baby and him.
"Topics too heavy for the moment," her eyes flicked to the shelf and then down, mapping the two inches of space between her and the sudden drop. "You know, I do have a little extra space here."
"What's your point?" He hugged her closer.
"Wow," she giggled, banishing the mess in her mind as she rolled in his arms. "I never would have pegged you for a cuddler."
"Don't tell anybody," his hands explored the hollow spaces on her back. "I have a reputation to maintain."
He kissed a line along her cheek.
"So," she chewed her bottom lip, "is this going to be a one-time thing?"
He stiffened for a moment before pushing up on one elbow; an unreadable expression entered his eyes.
"Is that what you want?" His hand stilled on her spine.
"Is that what you want?" She countered. After his last relationship she couldn't imagine him being in a great rush to leap into another one with a witch, not that she wanted one either. With everything she knew to be on the immediate horizon she knew it wouldn't be fair to either of them.
She also didn't want a one off.
"I asked you first," he lifted his hand, brushing her bangs aside.
Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek.
"No," she whispered, breath cool against his jaw.
"Good," he grinned, slow and bright, "once could never be enough with you, darling."
"Does that line work a lot?" She rolled her eyes.
"I've never tried it before." His brows drew together, eyes darting towards the insistent buzz of his phone. The vibration caused his jacket to sway where it hung off the table.
"You gonna get that?" She glanced over her shoulder.
"Is so far away," he groaned.
"It could be Davina calling to…"
"Scream?" He smirked, cutting her off.
"Or, heaven forbid, give us the spell," she gasped.
"It's still far," he sighed.
She held out a hand. His phone flew across the space and settled in her palm. "Now are you going to answer, or is it still too far?"
He checked the caller ID and answered, putting the call on speaker. "Nik?"
"What do you know about dragons?" Elijah's voice chimed in a second later.
"Specifically how to kill one?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Caroline muttered, snatching two knives from the block so fast they were a silver streak. "Stab it in the soft spot? How are we supposed to find the soft spot?"
She heard a distinct rustle from the phone Klaus had put on speaker so they wouldn't have to strain: turning pages and shifting fabric.
"I've told you everything I know," the flipping of pages paused, "even though I'm convinced this is all an ill-timed practical joke."
"You think I would joke about this?" Caroline sapped an arm towards the window, narrowly avoiding Klaus' arm.
"I think you've never been the kill first, ask questions later sort."
She stabbed the counter, sinking the blade four inches into the wood. Then she snatched up Klaus' phone and flipped it to video, turning the camera around when Bonnie's face filled the screen.
The mirror of what appeared on Kol's screen filled with fire. It lasted for several long seconds. Then the source cut off and the remnants disappeared, leaving behind smouldering grass and a shower of sparks. Through the wavering smoke appeared a horned head and the outline of a wing.
"Holy shit!" Bonnie clapped a hand to her mouth. Kol's slack face appeared over her shoulder.
Caroline pointed as she flipped the camera around.
"That thing nearly burnt me to a crisp at Elena's - I don't even want to think about if she'd been there alone…"
"She's hardly been alone in weeks," Klaus scoffed.
"Not now, Niklaus."
"Shut up!" Caroline glared. "Then it nearly burned down a school full of sleeping children, and would have without Hope. Now give me something useful because I'm gonna kill it, skin it and make a new pair of boots."
"A-all I've got is soft spot. It will be a thinner skin than the rest of the body."
"How do you propose we get close enough to find it?" Elijah eyed the wall of flame. There was no conceivable way to know whether dragon fire could kill them. At the very least they would spend several hours incapacitated and useless.
"EVACUATE THE BUILDING. ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF EVACUATE."
"What are the odds the students will think this is a drill?"
Caroline rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "At least fifteen dorm rooms look out this way."
Elena slipped between students in pyjama's and various stages of bed head, teenage boys yanked on t-shirts and girls hopped along, attempting to put on shoes.
"Elena!"
She spun left to where Josie and Lizzie elbowed their way towards her. Well, Lizzie elbowed; Josie trailed behind, yawning and scrubbing a pillow creased cheek.
"What are you doing here?" Lizzie clung to Josie's hand.
"Do you know what's going on?" Josie wrinkled her nose. "Do you smell smoke?"
"Yes, I know what's going on, and you two need to evacuate with the rest of the school." She adjusted Serena, pressing her tight to her breast.
"You're not evacuating," Lizzie crossed her arms. Her face hardened in the way Caroline's did when she felt particularly stubborn; all tight lips and narrow eyes.
"I will be in a few minutes." Elena met her hard stare. She knew how to deal with Caroline, and Lizzie lacked the stiff backbone of her mother; it was there, she hadn't grown into it yet. "Which room is Hope's?"
"The third one on the left," Josie yawned, tugging on her sister's arm. "Come on."
"But we don't know what's going on," she protested.
"You'll find out later," Elena rolled her eyes. She turned down the hall as Josie succeeded in tugging her away; she caught a glimpse of them as she stepped into the bedroom.
Books and photographs covered the shelves where Hope stood, an anthology balanced precariously on one arm for her hand to flip through.
"Okay," she nodded slowly, "there's an actual, honest, fire breathing dragon outside and the school is evacuating, but you're brushing up on Shakespeare." She shook her head suddenly and sighed. "Mikaelsons."
"It's a spell book," Hope explained, glancing up before returning to the frantic flip of pages, "unsanctioned black magic."
"I should probably be more surprised," Elena crossed the room, stopping next to Landon. "Did you know about this?"
He shook his head.
"What spell are you looking for?" Elena peered at the book when Hope came to a stop. An upside down skull yawned at her.
"This one," she breathed. Her fingers trembled as she pulled the thick paper from the binding.
"That's a…" Elena's eyes widened. "Hope; this is not your responsibility."
"I have to do something," she clamped down on her shaking lip. "Dad and Uncle Elijah are still down there, and they're not going to leave."
"All you have to do is get out," she frowned.
"The last time I ran I lost my mom." Moisture made her eyes impossibly blue.
"Hope, that was not your fault," she reached for her hand and took the spell. The page crumpled between her fingers. "You're fifteen years old, and, Mikaelson or not, you shouldn't have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You're still a kid, so go be a kid. Evacuate with Landon and let the adults handle this."
"But the spell needs to be cast, and…"
"And you don't have to do it," Elena folded the spell, and shuffled Serena into the crook of Hope's arm. "Now, I want you to take Landon, and take my baby, and evacuate. And while you're doing that, cross your fingers and hope a traveller with doppelgänger blood is strong enough."
She walked with them down the stairs, parting ways at the base with a quick kiss to Serena's head and a squeeze of Hope's shoulder.
She spared a moment to watch them head towards the tunnels before slipping into the library.
"Dorian," she called, grabbing his attention. Her eyes met his when he looked up from his book. "I need a knife," she pointed to the dagger on the table. "That one will do."
"Why do you need a knife?" He made no move to stop her from taking it.
"Because I'm about to do something colossally stupid, and if I go in the kitchen there are three people who will stop me," she carried it carefully as she raced out. "Thanks."
Without a baby in her arms she did what she hadn't in months and sprinted, relying on luck to make it past the kitchen doors without vampiric interference. In her head she repeated everything Bonnie had tried to drill into her. The things she had let slide partly because she had been lost in her own head and partly because she didn't want to think about the possibilities; anything a witch could do she could do by virtue of her blood.
She slammed the door behind her, purchasing a few seconds of time. The blade sliced through her palm. Crimson blood ran in a stream down her arm, dripping from the dagger and her palm.
She heard the first shout when she unfolded the spell.
The dragon circled towards her, but Hope's boundary kept all but the heat from licking her skin.
Power coursed through her, spiralling towards the dragon.
"Tenebris anima vestra contundito mortem et conteret spiritum. Frange vitam colite corde ut sub terra esse, ad tenebras usque in sempiternum."
The energy broke. Darkness washed over her.
When she came to, Elijah held her in his arms. Her eyes flicked lazily toward the vague shapes a few feet away. She had to blink a few times before the crouched forms of Klaus and Caroline came into focus.
Through the ringing in her ears she heard his voice and rolled her eyes up then down, frowning at the bloody appendage uncomprehendingly. Her throat and stomach revolted, but he forced the blood down. With each swallow her head cleared until she found the strength to push him away.
"Are you going to tell me how stupid that was?" She grimaced at the feel of tacky blood on her wrist and in her mouth. "That I'm a reckless idiot?"
"Do you need more blood? I think you have me confused with a Salvatore." He arched an eyebrow, smiling when his comment drew a small laugh. "That was reckless though; you should have told me."
"How would you have helped?" She rolled her eyes.
"I could have been here to catch you and saved the egregious head wound."
She touched her hand to the back of her head and came back with still warm blood. She blinked at it, rubbing her fingers together.
"So the spell's not the thing that hurt me?" She straightened her spine. "Did I at least slay the dragon?"
"Maybe if you had shined your armour first," Klaus called.
Elena scrambled to her feet, grasping the knife as she stood.
The dragon, in human form, pushed up onto it's/her elbows and scurried backwards awkwardly. Fear and anger transformed it's/her features and if not for the faint glow in it's/her throat someone might have mistaken it/her for a human.
"I knew I forgot something," she tried to snap her fingers but the blood made them stick. She handed the dagger to Caroline. "Sorry, I kinda stole this."
Dark eyes locked on the blade.
A soot covered hand reached up. The rage turned demanding and the sound it/she made could only be described as a pleading whine.
"You want this?" Caroline held up the dagger, still coated in a thin line of Elena's blood. The dragon/woman on the ground wiggled it's/her fingers but voiced no words; she wasn't sure that it/she could. "Why?"
It/She didn't answer, but the brows lowered. The spell had weakened it/her because the moment fire gleamed in her eyes Caroline had the time to strike, sinking the blade into her glowing throat.
"Soft spot," she pulled it free, glancing over her shoulder. "I think I'll skip the boots."
Caroline collapsed on the sofa, heedless of the mud up her calves and the dirt beneath her just manicured nails. The furniture had survived blood spills and two girls who had made it their personal mission to drop anything and everything that could stain.
The office couch could handle a little dirt.
"Are you as exhausted as I am?" She pushed her hands through her hair, streaking mud through the blonde curls.
"Physically, no," Klaus' voice rumbled over her head.
Cushions pushed into her stomach under his arm's weight on the back of the couch. She cracked one eye open, peering up through mascara clumped lashes.
"Mentally?" She crossed her arms low over her stomach.
"I just buried a dragon's body near a mass grave of witches after watching you and Elena play knights-in-shining-armour," he reached down, wiping away a smudge above her eyebrow. "It's going to take some time to wrap my mind around that. And then there is her child to contend with."
"It's been a wild morning." The left side of her mouth quirked up.
"And it's only ten," he mirrored her expression.
She groaned, kicking at the armrest. A million things loomed. The rumours needed to be stopped. Explanations, that she didn't have, needed to be given. And four new teachers had to be hired to replace the ones who quit after Alaric confirmed, to the staff, that there had actually been a dragon ready to burn them all to a crisp.
A million things to do before her ten o'clock flight out of JFK.
"I'm sure Alaric can handle the running of the school while you catch your breath, sweetheart." He cocked his head, listening to the distant sound of whispering children and teenagers attempting to study. "Can I ask you something?"
"Saying no has never stopped you," she shrugged.
"On the contrary," he waved a finger, "it's stopped me many times where you're concerned."
"Not when it comes to questions." Caroline rolled her eyes without opening them. "What is it?"
"Were you really going to run?"
Her eyes snapped open as the breath stilled in her lungs. Slowly she sat up and swung her legs, resting her heels on the floor, but that was as close as she got to standing up, suddenly fascinated by her filthy hands; she wasn't certain how long she stared before her moved.
"Caroline," Klaus came around and sat, taking her cool hand between his, "when I first found out about Hayley's pregnancy from witches who wanted to blackmail me I told them to kill her and the baby - don't tell Hope."
She inhaled through the thickness in her throat. There would be zero judgement from him. She knew that, but knowing didn't make voicing her thoughts and airing her deepest shame any easier.
"I was terrified," she began, clinging to him. "They weren't… I wasn't… they grew inside of me. I felt them move, and when they were born… I knew they weren't mine, but they…" she paused to take a shaking breath. Every word came out a little easier. "They felt like mine, and I didn't think that they should because I was just the surrogate. But I had all of these feelings that I never thought I'd feel."
Her eyes burned with unshed tears. She swiped at them, feeling his attentive gaze as she smudged mascara along her temple.
"I was supposed to be building a life for myself, and there I was having my heart stolen by two newborns, who weren't even mine, with clocks ticking ominously over their heads," she sniffed and swallowed, raising her eyes. "So, yeah, I was ready to run and maybe even flip the switch so I wouldn't go back."
He smoothed his thumb over her knuckles. "Ticking clock?"
"They're Gemini twins," she breathed, "not just siphons."
"Gemini," he breathed, frowning, "isn't that the coven that…" his eyes widened, flooding with horror.
Caroline nodded.
"When they turn twenty-two they have to merge. That's why I was in Brazil; it was another dead end lead that got my best friend hurt."
"Caroline…"
"I know, I know," she huffed. "You and Elena have both told me that it's not my fault."
"It's not," he slid an arm around her shaking shoulders, "but that's not what I was going to say."
Her head came to rest on his chest. The soothing motion of his hand rubbing circles on her arm threatened to lull her into sleep, but she had too much to do. "I'm supposed to be on the red eye tonight: Paris."
"I happen to have contacts across the world," he murmured into her hair, "including Paris. Though it's not quite how I imagined showing you the city."
"Klaus," she straightened, "I… you…"
"I happen to owe you a lot, love." He tucked a curl behind her ear. "You saved my daughter, Caroline. Let me help you save yours."
The sudden touch of her lips on his sent a shock wave through his entire body. It took a second for his reflexes to respond, but his hands came up to cradle her face. The gentle kiss sand through his veins.
When she pulled back he felt an echo of the pressure and stared a beat too long at her parted lips.
"Is that a yes then?"
Somehow he knew her answering nod encompassed more than one question.
She sat cross-legged on the floor and towel dried her hair. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Serena. Her swaddled daughter napped in the makeshift bassinet created from Caroline's favourite arm chair.
The buzz of energy created by two hundred thirty-seven students stopped at the door, creating the illusion that the bedroom resided apart from the rest of the school.
It shouldn't have surprised her.
The attic bedroom, redecorated to Caroline's taste over the years, had once been Stefan's. She knew the knick in every rafter and the angle of the vaulted ceiling. She knew where to put her feet for silence and which floor boards pried up; the artifacts had been cleared out in favour of the good snacks that would never survive in a kitchen open to hungry teenage werewolves.
The large room took up the entire attic, and between the main room and the bathroom it covered the original top of the house before the added expansion. The addition of a small kitchen would have turned the space into a gorgeous studio apartment.
And it had always felt a part from the rest of the house; given her current situation that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Her eyes flickered to the door, widening at the sight of her brother. He ascended the short flight of stairs ahead of Elijah; the important men in her life wore tight expressions that sank her heart until it resided somewhere around her folded legs.
The unfamiliar bassinet in Elijah's hands did not help.
"You've come bearing bad news."
She dropped the damp towel on her thigh.
Jeremy put down a shopping bag filled to the top with baby supplies, confirming her suspicion without words.
"We're you going to mention the fire?" He moved his niece into her new bed when Elijah sat it on the carpet.
"Once I knew the extent of the damage," she twisted her fingers in the oversized shirt; it was one of the few things Caroline managed to pack. "Who told you?"
"Matt called when the police couldn't find you and there was no sign of your remains in the raging inferno." He dropped into an armchair.
"Is it that bad?" She pulled herself onto the couch, looking from Jeremy to Elijah.
"Several deputies were theorizing arson and tossing around your names as suspects," Elijah murmured, joining her on the couch. "I calmly explained to Mr. Donovan the situation."
"And did Matt believe you?"
"Not until he showed us the footage," Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Did you really kill a dragon?"
"Technically I weakened it," she glanced to Elijah. "Caroline killed it."
Without thought she reached for Elijah, unaware of the action until his fingers warmed in the palm of his hand. Jeremy made no comment, but then, of all the Originals, her brother liked Elijah best; being the only one who actively tried to help her and not kill her went a long way to winning Jeremy's approval.
Or maybe, she wasn't as skilled at hiding her emotions as she once thought.
He always had known where to find her journal.
"Is there anything left?" She addressed them both. Elijah shook his head; Jeremy elaborated.
"The fire spread and hit the parked cars. From there it reached the gas tanks, caused a pretty impressive explosion and burned down the garage plus five feet of forest." His voice threatened to crack and he cleared his throat, looking over his shoulder to Serena's peaceful face. "How'd you get out? I assume you were inside."
"Two vampires, a hybrid and a broken window," she exhaled, taking comfort in the gentle squeeze of Elijah's hand. "I don't think I realized what was happening until after we re-hydrated Serena."
"R-re-hydrated Serena?" His head tilted to the left, eyes clouding over with confusion.
"I have no explanation at the moment," she sank into the couch cushions, taking a deep breath as her lashes dropped to kiss her cheekbones. "She glows in water: eyes, hands, feet… and neck."
She felt Elijah nod and knew Jeremy's eyes had looked to him for confirmation. Several moments passed filled only by the coos and grunts of her sleeping baby.
It was Jeremy's voice that broke the silence.
"What are you going to do?"
"About my baby or my house?" Thinking about the future of either made her head spin. "Why don't we start with the house since you need a place to live."
She groaned, opening her eyes to stare at the rafters. "A fire has made me homeless… again."
"At least you didn't set it this time."
"So glad we can joke about that now," she rolled her eyes. "What am I gonna do? I've got to file insurance claims, and get a new car, and replace everything and what do you mean cars?"
"What?" Jeremy's brows lowered.
"Hit the parked cars?" She quoted.
"Your car, my car and Niklaus' SUV," Elijah smoothed a circle over her palm.
"Please tell me your insurance covers fire."
"I'm not worried about the insurance or the car, Elena," he offered her a smile. "You shouldn't be either. And if any insurance brokers give you trouble I will be happy to compel them."
Jeremy leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I'd offer you my spare room, but…"
"You don't have a spare room," she finished. "You might want to get a bigger place."
"For the next time your house burns to the ground?" He quipped.
"You're welcome to stay at the mansion, Elena."
The sincerity of Elijah's offer was touching and the thought of being close to him, not that he'd ever been far, appealed to her. But the idea of proximity to Klaus and Kol, as well as the site of Esther's spell and her worst betrayal, turned her stomach.
"That's sweet, but I…" her muscles coiled beneath the weight of chaffing rope. She saw the scene in vivid colour: Klaus, needles, blood. "There are a lot of bad memories of that place that I'd love to not relive."
"That's understandable," he nodded.
"Can I make an offer?" Caroline appeared behind Jeremy's chair, a tight smile in place.
Elena nodded with narrow eyes. A lifetime of friendship had taught her to be suspicious of that smile.
"Stay here," she held out her arms. "There's plenty of room. It's separate from the school, but not so far away that you're not a hermit in complete silence."
"This is your room, Care."
"I'm hardly ever here, and I'm heading out tonight for clandestine meetings with more witches," she shrugged off the protest. "If your still here when I come back then I can just sleep in another room. And if your next words are about a crying baby, know that a spell can soundproof things. I would only ask for one 'itty-bitty' favour in return." She clapped her hands together, smiling wide.
"Here it comes," Elena rolled her eyes, "taking advantage of the homeless new mom. What is it?"
"I need a biology and chemistry teacher," Caroline bit her bottom lip. "Two and a half hours a day?"
This officially ends the first notebook of writing and what was meant to be chapter two. 19647 words.