After being put in a catatonic state by the siren, Bonnie is forced to enter Damon's mind and finds herself running into some familiar faces from her past, which drives her to choose her alliance wisely. Meanwhile, Kai takes a trip to Texas to finally meet Josie and Lizzie. He also finds himself asking Alaric for help so that he can un-link Bonnie's life from Elena.

"Luce, what's up?"

There was a pause from the other end of the line, and then a ridiculously cavernous voice said, "We have a bit of a problem."

Bonnie began scratching at the back of her neck. "Don't we always?"

Lucy chuckled. "So the tuning fork and Matt's family heirloom are supposed to be assembled together to make a mystical super bell. That bell is powerful enough to kill the sirens."

Instantly, her pulse relaxes. "Good news for us, right?"

There's a slight pause before her cousin hums pitifully. "Possibly. Once the bell is assembled, there's only one family who can ring it. Matt's." Lucy smacked her lips. "Apparently the Maxwell used to be in the business of making church bells"

"Shit, that's why Matt's father is so secretive," Bonnie replied in disbelief.

Lucy let out a short guttural sound, noncommittally. "Doesn't help that Matt and Peter have decades' worth of issues. Matt refuses to talk to him."

"Can you blame him? The man abandoned his family for years. Matt had to be the responsible provider for his mom and sister, both of whom were irresponsible." Bonnie murmured, without thinking about it.

"Someone is projecting."

Bonnie released a long, shuddering breath. "I had Grams to support me when Abby walked out and Rudy was too busy for me."

She heard some rustling, and then Lucy's voice came back. "How was Rudy, as a father?"

"Okay, well not really," Bonnie said, clearly attempting to sound sincere. "He was cold and bitter. I know mom leaving broke him."

"Do you know why your mother left?" Lucy sounded genuinely interested.

"Nope, I figured it was me." She wasn't comfortable with where this conversation was going. In fact, Bonnie was quite thrown off guard. "She didn't want to be a mother, then later on I found out she had a stepson who she mothered. Maybe things weren't working out between her and dad."

Lucy sounded a little surprised. "Sheila never did like Rudy."

Bonnie felt her soul leave her body. "Do you know why?"

Lucy backtracked quickly, a note of apology tingeing her words. "I… I shouldn't say."

Abruptly, Bonnie almost stops breathing. "You can't just say that and then not tell me. What do you know, Lucy?"

Silence.

Unsettling, dreadful silence.

"Your father was very distant with your mother after she had you."

Bonnie could feel her entire body tremble, sweat forming on her neck and her palms. "Distant? I mean, Dad had always been a workaholic."

"Work? Yeah right." Lucy said, but Bonnie didn't misread the hesitancy in her voice. "Abby used that as an excuse. Somehow, she blamed herself for your father's wandering eye. But Sheila and I saw him for who he was, a liar with an infidelity problem."

She stopped in her tracks, finally arriving at the front door of the boarding house.

"Why didn't she tell me? Why did she just leave me with him? And Grams, how could she not have told me?" Bonnie squawked indignantly. She hid a scratchy wheeze behind a weak cough.

"Rudy was financially stable. Abby was sure he would take care of you and give you a better life than the one she had. In the end, it was Sheila who had to step up and be a parent to you. Abby just gave him more freedom to be treacherous."

Taking a steadying gulp of air to stabilize her shaky voice, Bonnie ignored the wetness brewing in his eyes. "Umm… I can't right now." Bonnie muttered. "I have to go see Valerie about something. I'll talk to you later."

Any shifting or shuffling on the other end of the line vanished at that. Lucy eventually sucked in a breath through her teeth as if she were expecting something, the tone still harsh but slightly more subdued, "Bonnie, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. It's in the past now."

The dull beep of the phone being hung up and sat in the air, reverberating as a disconnected sob tore its way out of Bonnie's throat.

She scrubbed a hand over her face before crossing the threshold of the boarding house, making her way through the hallway. When she got into the parlor. There, sitting in the middle of the room, was Damon. Frozen in his seat.

The rain stopped its splatter on the windshield. Kai shifted in the driver's seat and glared slightly out of the corner of his eye. The car lurched to a halt. He shook off his uneasiness and got out to open the door of his rental.

The three-story home created the perfect fantasy of normal. The wrap-around porch faded behind the left side of the oversized house. Kai noticed windows were everywhere, causing nature's sunlight to poke and prod into the feel of the home. Looking up the walk, he saw the front door almost matching the rest of the house. Ironic that they embellished the home with windows, with a vampire living here.

"I can do this. I can do this," Kai said aloud, pushing the wet fringe out of his eyes.

Kai walked up to the front steps before he even had the chance to knock. The door swung open.

"Kai, you're here early." Caroline grinned and stepped back. "The girls are at school."

He chuckled mirthlessly. "It's cool. I wanted to have a little chat with you and Ric first."

She stepped out on the porch, a sly gaze flashing in her blue eyes: "Well, come around back. Alaric is grading some papers in the garden."

Caroline ushered him around the back of the house. He stepped toward the garden and in the next minute was strolling through the damp, icy ground, staring up at the gray clouds. Kai lets his eyes wander over the spring green trees and clusters of sunny yellow dandelions lining the lawn to a greenhouse.

"Ric, guess who showed up early."

Alaric's head snaps up so fast, he winces a little. Kai was standing on the edge of the lawn, looking slightly alarmed by his outburst.

"The girls don't get out of school for another two hours," Alaric commented sardonically. His face was thinner, his jaw hard where the skin was stretched across it.

"I know. I just wanted to speak with you and Caroline," Kai replied, feeling a blush creep over his neck and ears.

Alaric's face does something complicated that Kai can't quite follow.

"Should I be worried?" the former hunter blurted out.

Kai was silent for a moment. "I've been struggling with my magic for a few months. After I opened the armory vault, I haven't been able to siphon magic. Bonnie and I think this could be a magical consequence for opening the vault."

"Wait, doesn't Valerie still have her abilities?" Caroline asked, the worry in her voice apparent.

"Yeah, but I think the spirits are punishing me." He says truthfully. "I mean, let's face it. They had locked Sybil up for centuries, then I went in there and helped her escape. Among all the other things I've done. It's my fault she's out here on a killing spree with her sister again."

Alaric looked at Kai critically. "So no more siphoning powers. I thought you were a full-fledged witch after the merge."

"I'm losing my powers." Kai looked down, looking slightly ashamed. "Every time I use my magic, my body has an adverse reaction. If I keep trying, it might kill me."

Caroline nodded grimly. She understood this perfectly. "What is it you wanted to ask us?"

"Valerie and I want to train Josie and Lizzie. We can restore the Gemini Coven…"

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Alaric barked, eyebrows shooting to his hairline and a frown playing on his lips. "Restore the coven. That coven drove Jo away, and it led you to killing your entire family, including the coven. We are not getting those girls involved."

"It will be different, not like how it was before…"

Alaric drops his voice and inflicts it with scorn in horror. "Josie and Lizzie are going to have to merge, which means one of them is going to die. I can't put my girls through that."

"We'll put an end to the merge," Kai responds, frowning back.

Then Alaric took a long, deep breath, held it, and exhaled it again slowly. "How?"

"I don't know yet. Valerie and I have time to figure it out." Despite himself, something took aback Kai for a moment. But then he recovered and said, "I need their help to get my magic back. I need to get back to full strength so we can take down Cade and the sirens. Then I can undo the sleeping curse on Elena, so Bonnie and I can live our lives."

"So this is about you and Bonnie?" Alaric asked, alarmed. "You want me to put my children at risk so you can go fuck off with Bonnie?"

"Bonnie doesn't deserve her life being linked to Elena. Her entire future is on standby because of it." Kai said, keeping his tone as nonchalant as possible, in contrast to the challenge on his face.

"Because of what you did." Alaric quipped, grasping for Caroline's arm. "You think Jo deserved to be dead, missing out on her children. What about Liv and Luke, your father, and the rest of them? You want a happy life because you've done a few nice things for your girlfriend. You haven't earned the right to come here and ask for shit."

"That's enough Alaric." Caroline snapped, her voice sounded reluctant. "Kai is right. Neither Bonnie nor Elena deserve this. We aren't equipped to raise two siphoners alone. Having Kai train them would be helpful. We want them to be better prepared."

"We are not going back to Mystic Falls."

Alaric's muscles shook with repressed tension, and the fury in his gaze made Kai shrivel up uncomfortably.

"Our friends are there," Caroline says, a glum expression marring her fine features.

"We have friends here, we have a life, our careers are here. There's nothing in Mystic Falls for us. Nothing but pain and death." Under his breath, Alaric mumbles. "If we go back, we're as dead as Tyler Lockwood."

Caroline sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "He's right, with Stefan and Damon working for Cade, and Seline and Sybil on the loose, it's just not safe right now."

Frustration once again bubbles to the surface of Kai's reeling mind. He was met with defeat. Now what was he left to do?

Valerie was too tired and depressed to deal with Damon Salvatore. The man was still sitting in a chair in the parlor. Unable to move. Bonnie cleared her throat.

"My guess is that he and Sybil got into a fight and she fucked up his head," Bonnie said. She looked frazzled today, hair pulled into a messy bun that was doing nothing to contain the wisps that still framed her face.

"Probably found out he didn't really love her," Valerie said, features nearly forming into a proper pout. "I get tired of going into people's heads. Wish me luck."

Valerie didn't waste any time. She touched Damon's shoulder and focused her mind on entering his subconscious. It didn't last long. All she got glimpses of was hellfire and Damon being burnt on a cross. She pulled herself out of there quickly.

"What did you see?" Bonnie's hand was on her shoulder.

"I think I was in hell." Valerie choked out, still gasping, her knees weak when she stumbled back.

Damon's cheeks were wet, as tears fell from his eyes. "What did she do to you?" Bonnie asks, sharply and at full volume.

From the backroom, a tuneless humming started up, which made Valerie and Bonnie fall silent.

"Do you hear that?"

The sound was coming closer and louder.

The humming stopped abruptly. Valerie squinted her eyes to see Sybil leaning against the wall.

"Hello, ladies."

Valerie scowled at the nerve she had.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

"Me, he was the one who begged me to flip his humanity switch back on." Sybil took a glance over at Damon. "I guess his mind couldn't handle all those memories and feelings, all those people he maimed and killed."

"Fix him, now," Bonnie demanded, allowing the volume of her voice to rise a bit.

Sybil raises her eyebrows, almost smiling. "I won't do anything for free."

"Name your price." Valerie's voice was low and calm, though her tone was not quite so filtered.

Sybil's gritty expression broke into a victorious smile. "After. You need Damon, and you need me to fix him. So basically you'll owe me anything I ask for."

Sybil moved in on Damon, pressing her fingertips on his temple. She cringed at what she was witnessing. "Dare god, I really screwed him up in there. He's scared he'll be suffering in fire and brimstone."

"That's because you fed him those lies." Valerie's stomach twists. "You did this to him."

"Well, one of you needs to get into his mind and repair the damage. Once we know what's holding him back, I can correct my mistake."

Bonnie continued glaring at the siren, silently, her shapely jaw clenching.

"What are you girls up to?"

Valerie jumped slightly at the sound of Stefan's voice.

Stefan glanced at his brother before rolling his eyes. "God, he's so dramatic. He drags his feet at work and now he's a damn upright comatose person. I can see why you wanted Kai back."

Sybil pierces him with her cold, deadly stare and growled, "Yes, well, Damon is no longer serving his purpose. However, maybe you could help us."

Stefan remains unfazed. "I don't know, it's sort of quiet without him around."

Valerie tried not to let her immediate spike of anxiety show. "Stefan, please, we can't leave him like that."

His brow furrowed ever so slightly—so slightly

"You still need a partner in crime, Stefan." The siren offered a sympathetic smile. "Damon might be annoying, but he needs to earn his keep."

Stefan considers it. "Fuck it." He blurted out. "Damon's like this when he does anything wrong. All you need to do is to find out where he's hiding in his mind and tell him that everything is going to be okay." He paused before glaring in Sybil's direction. "Wait, why the hell are you helping them?"

Sybil arched an eyebrow. "Because I still need help with the Maxwell Bell. And now you all owe me."

Valerie bites her tongue to keep from saying anything rash.

"I'll search his mind and find him." Bonnie makes a grandiose, sweeping motion with her arm.

"Alone? Are you sure Bonnie?"

Bonnie's stomach drops, but her voice remains steady as she replies, "How hard can it be?"

His heart was beating, very tense and erratic, so forceful in his ears. All Kai could hear outside was the raindrops beating against the car. He watched distractedly, his eyes transfixed on the droplets streaming on the windshield.

Swallowing the lump that had woefully taken up residence in the pit of his throat a while ago. He shut his eyes hard. This was his last hope. Using magic would no longer be an option for him. Not unless he could create a bond with his family. But Alaric said no. He could always make his own choice and take what was his. Kai thought back to the past few years. About how far he'd come from the person he used to be.

He sighed with heaviness, his breath aching in his chest. Kai wondered how much more of a fight he had left. Could he take out Cade? Could he protect Bonnie or die trying?

A sudden tap on the passenger side made him jump. It wasn't long after a blonde snuck into the car seat beside him.

"I'm sorry about Ric," she half yelled, help whispered. Her dripping curls whipped around with her gaze, making eye contact with him. "He's just so scared to lose his children, like he's lost everything else. I'm scared."

"People are dying Caroline, Valerie isn't powerful enough. Bonnie doesn't have her magic anymore. We got two powerful sirens running through town, Cade is controlling the Salvatores. Meanwhile, you and Ric are loved up in Texas, being ignorant of everything going on."

Caroline stayed quiet.

"Damon tried to kill his niece and murdered your ex-boyfriend. Jeremy and Sarah Salvatore are both in New Orleans at Klaus's safe haven in hiding because we don't know if either Stefan or Damon are going to hunt us all for sport again."

Caroline was agitated now, running a hand through her wet hair. "I know this. I know things are getting terrible out there."

"Then why won't you come home? We could use both of you." Kai said, getting right to the point.

Caroline stilled and took a deep breath. "Ric is happy here. It's quiet and safe."

There was a lot of adrenaline built up in his system, with no place to go.

"And you? Are you happy?"

"Fuck no," Caroline said, in a voice that would be vicious if she hadn't started crying. "I hate it here. I hate the people. I hate my job. I don't love my husband." She gasps, coughs, and wipes her hand across her face.

Kai swallows. He can feel his ears burning. "Bonnie said you and Ric were working on it."

"We did. Things sort of looked up." Her hand came up to cover her face. "Then Seline kidnapped the girls and after that, Ric has been so hostile and short towards me. I think he wants me gone, but the girls know me as their mom."

The words come out of Kai's mouth before he's even thought them through. "Alaric is in love with you. I saw how he looked at you. Fuck, I could smell how he lusted after you. You're his dream girl. If you talk to him, he'll listen. You need to make him understand the girls need to be around me. I can help them, and I can protect them. We can be a family. All of us."

Caroline looks up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "What's your plan? How do you plan on recovering your magic?"

"If the spirits are really the ones holding me back. Then I need their forgiveness. Pledging my allegiance to restore the coven and protect the twins should do the trick."

"You think you can do it?" Caroline asks, hope rising in her chest.

"I have to try, at least. If not…" He sighs heavily. "I guess I'll be a regular vampire, then."

"Welcome to the club."

Bonnie stared at the Mystic Grill's door as groups of people walked in. Looking around, she noticed Sheriff Liz Forbes, and serving her in the booth was an alive Vicki Donovan. Sighing quietly, Bonnie kept looking around at Mystic Falls in Damon's subconscious.

If Vicki and Sheriff Forbes were alive, then it means her family was too. All Bonnie had to do was follow the clues.

The streetlights were blinking into wakefulness by the time Bonnie reached a familiar neighborhood. There was a pounding sound in her ears as she arrived at the two-story house. She couldn't stop. She kept walking up the driveway up on the porch steps. There was a coldness across her spine.

The front door pulled open. Bonnie could feel her eyes widening.

"Bonnie, how are you?"

Sheila looked pleasantly surprised to see Bonnie, but her expression quickly went from her adoration to serious near immediately. Bonnie knew she resembled a ghost right now. Catching her breath, the younger woman stumbled into her grandmother's arms.

"Bonnie, what's wrong, sweetie?" Grams asked firmly, placing a hand on Bonnie's cheek and gently turning her back.

Bonnie took a moment to take in her grandmother. It impressed her that Damon got Grams' sweater right. The older Bennett looked so full of life. Not at all how she appeared the last time Bonnie was with her.

"I'm just happy to see you." Bonnie squeezed out. As her heart rate settled. "I need your help, Grams."

"Come on in."

Shelia stepped back so Bonnie could enter the room and closed the door behind her. Bonnie turned and went to stand in the middle of the small living room. Drawing in on herself with her arms pulled held across her chest.

"Should I be concerned? Is this about your father leaving again?"

Bonnie quickly recalls everything Lucy had told her earlier about her father. Gram's tone hinted that she knew something. But this was Damon's subconscious speaking to her. Did this mean Damon knew things about her father's romantic office affairs?

"No. I need you to do a locator spell on my friend."

It was obviously the wrong thing to say. Sheila only stared at her disbelievingly for endless seconds before a small, bitter scoff commanded her body.

"Baby girl, why are you messing around with magic? I told you everything comes with a price."

"I know. But this is urgent. I'm looking for Damon Salvatore." Bonnie said, seeking the quickest way to steer this conversation before it grew any more uncomfortable than it already was.

Her grandmother's eyes grew wide. "Stefan's brother?"

"Yeah. Wait, how did you know Stefan, anyway?"

Grams stepped towards Bonnie, hands clasped behind her back. "We go way back," she whispered. Bonnie shuddered when she noticed the slight blush on her grandmother's cheeks. "I should ask you why you're involved with vampires."

Bonnie turned towards her Grams, but tried to avoid meeting her gaze. "All my friends are vampires now," she sighed, feeling the beginning of a headache stirring. "My boyfriend is a vampire, actually a heretic."

Sheila froze, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"A heretic? That's impossible."

Bonnie's voice was hoarse when she spoke. "Malachai Parker, remember him?" Keeping her head down, she continued. "You helped his father, Joshua, create a prison world in 1994. But Kai escaped, then merged powers with his brother and became the leader of his coven. Not long after, Stefan's mother turned him into a heretic."

Shelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Bonnie Bennett, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Bonnie glanced up, startled. She'd almost forgotten where she was. "Nothing different from what you've been up to with Stefan Salvatore, apparently."

This barb earned Bonnie a fierce glare from Shelia. "Don't take that tone with me, child." Her eyes shrank some more. "What happened with me and Stefan was decades ago, it wasn't anything serious. Then I met your grandfather."

Bonnie knew she looked rather gobsmacked— certainly, her mouth was hanging open. She sputtered for several moments before her mouth caught up with her brain.

"You talked so big about not trusting vampires, and yet you had a relationship with one."

"I did not. It wasn't like that." Shelia bristled, which made Bonnie smirk. "This Malachai, kid. You know what he's done."

"Yes. And I've forgiven him." Bonnie shuffled where she stood, looking a bit awkward. "Kai's not some heartless monster. He's not perfect either, but he makes me happy. He's protective of me. He's made sacrifices for me, and my friends. We're so close to the life we want. Kai wants to save Damon, that's why I'm here."

Another agonizing pause. Sheila huffed angrily. "From what Joshua told me, the kid had no redeeming qualities."

Bonnie was staring at Grams numbly. "Joshua wasn't telling the whole truth. He left out a lot of messy details about himself and the coven."

"I never liked the Gemini Coven, killing a sibling to gain their powers. So cruel." Her tone changed into a stone-cold grey- threatening to freeze the surrounding air. "And you're right, I've been a hypocrite. You're a big girl and you can make your own choices about the right sort of vampires. My relationship with Stefan…"

Her eyes softened a bit, and she took a step in grandmother's direction. "Spare me the dirty details."

Sheila looked Bonnie dead in the eyes, her lips falling into all seriousness. "Nothing lasts forever with a vampire." She said, voice overly sour. "I knew my time with Stefan would be short. I wanted a family. Something a vampire can't provide. What we had was short, but sweet. And your grandfather made me just as happy, so did your mother and you."

Bonnie stumbled for a moment, this conversation throwing her completely off guard.

"Kai makes me happy. And we're going to find a way to make it work. Because when it's real you can't walk away." She whispered fiercely into the air.

Shelia grinned at Bonnie. "Then I'll help you find your friend. Just come over here and help me out. I hope you have something that belongs to Damon."

Despite her courage, Bonnie looked back at her Grams with a somewhat doubtful look in her eyes. This had to work.

It had been raining for some time now. A sky of clouds met a layer of black umbrellas. Lightning flashed in the sky, and the angry thunder drowned out his thoughts. Kai walked to his destination spot, a diner off the highway. He could see Alaric through the frosted windows. The older man wasn't alone.

Kai walked inside, the warmth pricking against his cheeks in the contrast of the cold from outside.

Alaric looked up at him as Kai neared the table. The heretic stared at two little girls around the table with Alaric. A blonde and brunette. Both hyper-focused on their coloring books, neither one looking up at him. However, their father was absently stirring a cup of coffee.

"You wanted us to meet?"

His voice startled the two girls. Finally, looking up from their coloring books.

"Daddy, who's this?" the brunette asked, taken aback.

"Josie, Lizzie. This is Malachai, your uncle." Alaric said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Take a seat, Kai."

Kai's eyes widened, and he sat down across from Alaric and the twins. He felt no more at ease with Alaric than he had hours ago, perhaps even more skittish now.

"You're our uncle?" Lizzie twisted her hands in her skirt.

His pulse was pounding loud enough to echo in his ears. Kai looked at her with a sympathetic smile in her eye.

"Yeah, I am." He offered a small smile to each one of them. He wasn't sure what he expected — hugs or tears or hysterics — but all he got was a hesitant smile from Josie and a wearily look from Lizzie, who turned to her father. "Wow, you guys look so much like your mother."

A steaming coffee with three sugars and cream sat on the greasy table in front of him.

Josie bit her quivering lower lip. "Are you like us?"

Alaric's eyes flashed with concern.

Kai felt his teeth with his tongue. "Yeah, I have magic."

"Mommy and daddy don't like it when we use ours," Josie said shyly. "Lizzie keeps hurting mommy."

Lizzie bit her lip, caught out. "You do too."

Alaric gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm trying to get their powers under control."

Forcing calm into his voice, he said, "There's no parenting books on rising siphoners. There's hardly enough of us out there. You need us. Valerie can teach them, she's great at it."

His nostrils flared briefly, then Alaric averted his eyes to his daughters. "Not with two sirens and the devil living in Mystic Falls." The older man pointed out. "If something happens to them. I'd never forgive myself."

Kai slugged his arms forward, his chest pressed against the table. He reached out both hands to each of the girls; they slid their hands into his. Kai squeezed gently as Alaric glanced at them, only a bit curious. The heretic gulped. Now, he was more nervous than before.

This was just a demonstration for Alaric. Also, a test for himself. But Kai just felt nauseous and sweaty. Steadily, he spoke out an incantation, swaying the twins' hands back and forth with his. Within seconds, a gust of wind swirled around them. He felt a delicate squeeze in his hands from both Josie and Lizzie, and a gasp from Alaric.

Kai resumed his chanting. He felt much more confident, much more strong. He breathed out again and slowed his pace. His words flowed like silk. He took a peek at Alaric, Josie, and Lizzie. He found his audience silently marveling at him. Kai pulled his hand away from the twins.

"Vantus."

Kai rubbed his aching temples. Alaric winces, looking around. The two girls stared at Kai, waiting for something to happen.

Before he could close his eyes, Kai felt little Josie reaching out to grab his hand. Kai looked back at her. The little girl gave him an encouraging smile. The itch in his hand was persistent. Kai holds out his other hand with his palm up.

"Vantus."

The spell made the air go from a playful breeze to blowing everything and anything in the diner around, roaring with indignation. He could hear other customers shouting and shrieking like banshees about the cold air and wind. He reopened his eyes. To see Josie's lips moving.

"Was that you?" Josie drew back, looking up at him.

Kai exhaled, feeling the warmth of magic and certainty. "That was us."

Both Lizzie and Josie squealed. Kai even noticed Alaric's eyes twinkled.

"Daddy, can we go with Kai, please?" Lizzie pleaded, nudging her father.

Alaric frowned. "Maybe one day, but not right now."

He squeezed his eyes shut and said through gritted teeth, "Ric, come on, man. Your life is in Mystic Falls. I know it's a war zone right now, but Josie and Lizzie can help us fight this. I promise nothing will happen to them. Not as long as I'm here." Something near Kai's stomach was twinging.

"He's right, Ric. The girls need to go with him." Kai didn't even hear when Caroline entered the diner. She looked around helplessly at her children's uncertain faces. "Valerie and Kai will keep them safe. And we can bunker at the armory until Cade and the sirens are dealt with."

Alaric sighed heavily. "Is this what you really want?"

Her eyes caught on his expression, and her lips thinned out into a line. "I wanted Tyler to be alive, and maybe if we had been in Mystic Falls with our friends, we could have helped stop Damon. We were here hiding, while Tyler went back to help everyone and he died. I can't let his sacrifice be in vain. I want to stop the devil and protect our home. It's time to go back to Mystic Falls."

Kai recognized it. The twinge in his stomach? That was guilt. He stayed silent. If anyone could convince Alaric to come back, it was Caroline Forbes.

Somewhere, thunder was crashing and strikes of lightning enhanced the crypt with violent flashes of light. The crypt was silent. Then, jolting the sound of something clattering to the floor.

Light - ethereal, bright, terrible suddenly filled the room, instead of Damon. She saw the face of Tyler Lockwood.

Bonnie was silent when she saw Tyler's gaze and felt like crying when she saw the hurt in his eyes. This was overwhelming for her, even more than seeing her grandmother.

"It's not safe here, Bonnie," Tyler whispered. His expression was hardened and cold.

Bonnie swallowed hard and shook her head firmly. "I need to find Damon."

Tyler's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Screw Damon. Do you know what he's done to me? Do you know what's he's taken from me?"

A sound that might have been a cry on a unique occasion ruptured through Bonnie's throat. "I know, but right now there's a lot at stake and I need to find him."

"I tried to help the bastard," he sneered at her, refusing to be intimidated. "I tried to talk him down. I told him to walk away. I told him to keep fighting this monster off. He didn't even hesitate to kill me."

Tears welled up in her eyes, she bit her lips to keep them from overflowing.

"Damon is a heartless monster. He'll never change, ever. You all keep protecting him, when you need to put him down. He'll kill again, Bonnie. Next time it will be someone close to you."

Anxiety was thrumming beneath her skin. It tore through her veins and threatened to overtake her.

"Is that what you really believe? Damon will kill again?" she knew she was speaking directly to Damon, through Tyler, but she had to ask.

"It will only get worse from here," he warned, glancing sideways. "I'm only sorry Jeremy has to go through this alone. He's lost enough lovers as it is."

Bonnie's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait, how does Damon know about you and Jeremy?"

Tyler hummed a little, attentively. "Jer and I were in New York together once when we had a run-in with Damon." He smirked back with an almost charming smile. "Protect yourself, Bonnie, otherwise you'll be in for a world of hurt. The Salvatores are dangerous."

Bonnie couldn't get another word in with Tyler. She soon found herself being hurled out of Damon's subconscious and back in the boardinghouse parlor. Amongst Sybil and Valerie, with braindead Damon.

"Bonnie, what's happened?"

She could see the wheels spinning in Valerie's head.

"We might not be able to help Damon anymore, and I'm not sure about Stefan either."

Bonnie stepped away from everyone and turned her back on them to head towards the door. Her thoughts swarmed on her.

"So you're just gonna walk away?" Sybil only shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "That's not the Bonnie Bennett, Damon's fallen in love with. From what I know about you, Bonnie, is that you never walk away from a friend."

Bonnie did her best to refuse the urge to snort at Sybil's words.

"I suggest you ask Stefan to deal with Damon from now on. He's no longer a friend of mine."

"Bonnie…"

Valerie turned around then, without continuing her thoughts. She wasn't walking towards Bonnie, though, but her shoulders were shaking with tension. Bonnie glared at Sybil back for a few seconds, then exhaled deeply and realized she was being foolish.

"Good luck Val. I hope for your sake this doesn't end bloody for you. Stefan is a good man, but he has baggage. His ripper side and taking care of Damon, which is a full-time job. He'll never pick you over his brother, never. I don't want you to end up bitter and resentful like Caroline."

Valerie closed her eyes in frustration. When she opened them, they were filled with fury. "Stefan is all I have. I lost everyone else."

Bonnie huffed at that, crossing her arms as she turned around again. "That's not true. You have friends who care about you. If anything happens to you, Kai would avenge you. There's more out here than Stefan Salvatore."

"She's not wrong," Sybil said, tonelessly. "Anyway, hurry and get Stefan. I have better things to attend to."

Bonnie couldn't do anything about her guilt or confusion or frustration, inner conflict, anger, or disgust. It was time to protect herself and her own interest.

At this point, what else did she have to lose?

When Kai pulled up to Bonnie's house. He could hear voices in the driveway as he slowly pulled closer in. More specifically, he could hear Damon's voice. He stops the car halfway on the curb, hiding his vehicle behind some trees, staying out of sight but close enough to listen in.

"I was a coward all these years. I should have told you how I really felt about you. I had so many chances and I fucked up."

Kai opened the door and walked out of the car to move closer to the house. He wore a frown on his face, his heart was dropping.

"Damon. I told you this already. I want nothing to do with you anymore." Bonnie said it with about the same level of emotion as talking about grading term papers.

Kai felt his heart rate speed up as he walked up the driveway.

"Bonnie Bennett, I love you."

As soon as Kai's eyes spotted Damon, anger consumed him.

"Do you really, or are you just jealous and hurt that I'm no longer pining for you?" Her voice was broken. Wrecked. She sounded almost in pain. Kai couldn't handle it.

Damon moved closer, his hand running down the side of Bonnie's face to her neck. He traced her collarbones, and it made Kai repulsive. Bonnie's eyes were probably wide and fraught, and it seemed to awaken a hunger within the vampire.

Damon cupped Bonnie's face in his hands, drawing it closer to his own. Their lips meet. Kai was seething so much, he almost missed when Bonnie threw a right hook at Damon, knocking him back.

She gawked at him with wide eyes. "You fucker," Bonnie spat at him. She had blood on her lip where she'd bitten it; her face was red, eyes hard and cold and wet looking.

"You want me." Damon goaded, folding his arms over his chest defensively. "And I want you. Let's stop playing this game."

Kai has had enough. He approached Damon and Bonnie, his eyes glaring at the vampire.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Damon asked, voice pitching up a bit. "I'm just here to collect what's mine."

Kai rolled his eyes and threw the first punch. If Damon was caught off guard, he didn't show it. The vampire only growled, tense for a moment. Kai's next punch hit Damon's ribs. It knocked the wind out of him a bit.

Kai suddenly switches to offense, throwing Damon off balance as he lands a punch in the vampire's gut, followed by a kick to his head.

The color on Bonnie's face was not from embarrassment. "Kai, please just stop. Let's just go inside and leave him."

Wanting to have the last word, the bottom of his boot connected to Damon's face, knocking the wind out of him.

Damon looked away, jaw working. This could spiral out of control really fast.

"Bonnie…"

"Did you honestly think I'd forgive you for what you did to Tyler?" Bonnie spat at Damon and pushed past her boyfriend. Kai had to move again, and this time reached out and gripped Bonnie's shoulder. There was emotion there, in the flush of her face, the set of her jaw. "Just stay away from us."

Kai's eyes watched as Bonnie marched into the house.

"If I ever see you lay a hand on her again. I'll kill you." Kai forced the words out amidst the violent display of passion.

He turned his back to Damon, wheezing on the stoops, and walked into the house. Shutting the door behind him. He watched Bonnie shaking wildly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Bonnie was shaking in her own whimper. She could barely catch her breath.

Kai moved closer to her and pulled his girlfriend close, trying to comfort her somehow. "It's not your fault, Bon. You did nothing wrong."

Bonnie clung to Kai. "I can't save him. I don't want to save him. I just want this to be over." She sniffled and buried her face in the crook of Kai's neck.

He took a shaky breath. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. That's a promise."

AN: Yeah, Damon is the worst and he won't be getting better from here. Damon's act towards Tyler will play heavily in this fic, I dislike how Bonnie in canon just forgave Damon for straight-up murdering Tyler, but when Stefan killed Enzo that was crossing the line. Damon should have been held to the same accountability as Stefan. Julie Plec is just an ass kisser when it comes to Ian Somerhalder. So the Salvatore Brothers will both hold liable for all the bad things they are doing. Also, Sheila and Stefan, bet you didn't see that one coming. Next chapter Lucy and Bonnie head out on a road trip, Kai and Damon work together to protect Valerie from the devil, and the Mystic Fall gang loses another member.