The Ties that Bind - Part I

Last time...

An emotionless V goes to great lengths to be force Klaus to kill her so she can be reunited in death with Manning. Instead of killing her, Kol and Bonnie tell Klaus and Caroline of a plan to have V turn her humanity switch on. After a high speed bike chase on the highways of Australia, Klaus and Caroline catch up to V. During that time, V sets a stake bomb that threatens Caroline's life. Klaus, seeing no alternative, readies himself to kill her, just before Kol and Bonnie come onto the scene. After a brief scuffle between V and Klaus, Bonnie intervenes and uses her magic to summon Manning, leaving the group to face the man called the Executioner of the Other Side...

A/N Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! It is what has allowed me to update again this week, so I'm thankful.

So, I heard you guys are confused. Don't worry guys. It will pass after the second scene, but if you find yourself still lost, let me know via review. I answer them all. And don't worry. Manning WILL NOT be an antagonist in this fic, so keep that in mind before you lynch me :).

As you can see, I broke this chapter up. Please bear with me.

As always, I adore you all but thanks to those who started:

Following since the sneak peek: nicomell, supernaturallytwisted, anneliese bain, msboskiera, darkprincesssalvatore, yelena4064, jennifer henderson 737, mbkilli, popeye12, salazarjasam, neverthink121, quorrathelastiso, thexjamstervidsx, amber lacy 0409, a future unknown author, jennemallett

Favoriting - zansdivine, supernaturallytwisted, anneliese bain, msboskiera, martas, salazarjasam, neverthink121, quorrathelastiso

and reviewed! Justanotherfiveminutes, loveleesa, seralina, loveofavampire, hellzz-on-Earth, tippy093, Ellavm18, Juseapeterson, elijahlover, messy75

*Please read the whole chapter. The sneak peek was a rough draft of the first scene and was missing elements essential to the story*


Klaus POV

It's like the world stopped spinning, leaving everyone as helpless spectators to what is unfolding before us.

Yet one things was for certain.

It bloody worked.

Little Bonnie Bennett did it.

I thought it a ruse, the notion that Bonnie and Kol had a way to summon Manning, that they had even met him at all.

But now, seeing him...There was no denial left to be had.

The man before me, my...father, undoubtedly was the same man I found after I had turned into a wolf the first time, pierced through a ground stake. The clothes was even the same.

The medallion Bonnie wears hangs proudly around his neck, glowing brightly in the night and his stare is insistent on my face, reading every reaction.

Then his face changes, giving way to a sinister grin that sets his features alight with madness.

And I knew immediately something was deathly wrong.

V reacts in a way that further deepens my worry when she swings her fist for Manning's face, but he is too fast, jumping back. Her following backhand is blocked by his hand grabbing her wrist and twisting it so viciously, she cries out. Manning twists her around and pulls V flush aganist his chest, not releasing his hold to growl tauntingly in her ear:

"Is that how you greet your former betrothed? It's been over a millennium."

V's eyes narrow as his other hand glides over her hip.

"You would know the manner in which I greet him if you were him," she spits out.

His evil grin broadens, his eyes slowly turning yellow as a dark mist shrouds him, giving him the appearance of a living shadow, his fangs glistening.

"How right you are," says Manning with a darkly, inhuman hiss.

"I don't understand," murmurs Caroline, looking on, then at us. "Isn't Klaus' Da-"

"The Executioner," bursts in Kol in recognition and we all turn to him, seeing him pale and genuinely frightened. I hadn't seen him this scared since we were human. When we turned into vampires, Kol became fearless, even against Mikael. He was always the one trying to convince us to overpower Mikael instead of running, sometimes resulting in a daggering when he wouldn't bend. But to my amazement and now growing concern, he steps back, swallowing hard, about to bolt.

"Kol?" calls Bonnie, reaching out for him, but he yanks the hand she touches back.

"No..." he shakes his head, his eyes frantic, no longer acknowledging us but talking to the dark specter of Manning before us. "You're not taking me. I'm not ready."

The black mist covering Manning allows his lips to appear, revealing his lips that turn up into a sneer.

"It matters not. Your final destination awaits you all and I am hungry..."

He licks his lips. "So hungry..."

V takes advantage of the exchange and slams her head backwards into Manning's face. He lets out a bestial roar and releases her.

"Run!" she screams at us, snapping Kol out of his stupor.

"Brother!" shouts Kol earnestly. I turn back at him, his gaze pleading taking me aback. "Take Caroline and Bonnie and go! I'll..." he glances back at Manning and V wearily, looking like he'd rather eat nails then do what he says next, "I'll stay here and make sure he's distracted long enough for you lot to run."

I look at him in surprise. Despite his fear, he's doing this. I shake my head, gratitude welling up in me at the gesture. Maybe always and forever still meant something after all..

"We're not leaving for you to sacrifice yourself!" bursts in Bonnie, shooting down his speech in a blaze of glory. I actually share the little witch's sentiment. Kol is clearly overreacting. Manning can be handled. He may be someone of importance on the other side but here...

Here, the Original Hybrid is still the most powerful being on the planet, especially with Silas out of the picture.

A shame (not really).

I go to say as much to Kol, but the sound of a fist connecting to another's jaw, calls my attention, just in time to see Manning follow his punch with a kick to V's chest, launching her towards Kol and Bonnie.

Manning disappears from his spot in an instant, a displacement of air the only warning I have of his approach.

Then everything moves in slow motion as if a movie.

I move to dodge the dark hand that reaches for my chest, but I find I can't move, my feet anchored to the ground. I notice a dark mist at my feet, dark hands coming from it to grab my ankles.

I wait for his hand to push through my chest cavity, to grasp my heart and pull it out. I hear his hand push through, the slippery sound of his fingers touching the beating organ.

But to my horror, it isn't mine.

My eyes are wide, and air leaves my lungs at the sight of Manning's hand plunging into Caroline's chest.

"No!" I shout.

It's too late. I can't change the sight of Manning's hand in her chest, her breath coming out strained. Manning's grin beneath the mist is malevolent, filled with glee like he is watching the most amusing comedy.

I blink rapidly, trying to change what I see to no avail.

"The time for running has long past," comes Manning's voice from the mist the shrouds him. "Young Caroline, if you wish for death first, who am I to deny you?"

"Don't touch her!" cries Bonnie, not sparing her a glance in order to gauge any opening for me to free Caroline. "Or I'll fry your brains!"

He cackles at her. "Foolishness young one! And with what magic, pray tell, will you use? I sincerely hope you are not planning to use the magic I endowed you with? You'll find yourself sorely disappointed."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see realization dawn on her, grasping the once glowing howling medallion hanging around her neck. It was dark, black, dead.

"Now back to..." Manning says, squeezing Caroline's heart.

I let a growl, my face giving way to the hybrid underneath, when Caroline cries out, her delicate hands flying to the wrist of the offending hand, her eyes shining with tears, but her jaw setting in determination. "Kill me and be done with it," she croaks.

My heart turns into lead in my chest. I can't. I will not watch yet another person I love die before my eyes, not again. It happened with Henrick, Kol...

Not Caroline.

Not her...

My mind goes through the brief spurts of happiness I had with her: Dancing in my mother's ball with her in my arms, being her "date" for that sordid Pageant she was adorably organizing and of course...

Our tryst in the woods.

Would that be it? Is this all I was destined to have with Caroline because of yet another "parent" wishes nothing for me but misery and death?

Not bloody likely.

I give in to the anger, letting it ripple like current through my veins. I don't dwell on the hurt, the disappointment of another father figure turning on me. It was nothing new after all. I had known having my long lost father fight for my happiness from the Other Side was a fairytale.

Well. That is over.

I'm going to kill him.

Slowly...

Painfully.

"Let. Her. Go," I say to Manning, keeping my voice even. "It's me you want. Not her."

His attention is turns to me, and from the corner of my eye, I see V slowly get to her feet, her eyes on Manning.

Just one opening...

The mist recedes a bit to show his smile again. "Not true," he says. "I am not known to play favorites. I..."

His face suddenly turns in a grimace, and all our eyes widen in confusion, including Caroline's when the sound of flesh sizzling fills the air, along with the smell of burning flesh. I see the smoke coming under Caroline's hands where she is holding Manning's wrist. The tissue under his skin glows red like a red hot poker, his fingers stretching out. He then lets out a painful yell, pulling his hand out of her grasp.

I stop breathing for a moment, thinking Manning took her heart with the movement but instead I find an empty, severely burned hand, the mist that was covering it trying to envelop it again, but it shrinks back, right when V slams into Manning like a full speed train.

The black mist with its hands instantly disappears from my feet, freeing me to catch Caroline as she wobbles unsteadily on her feet. I hold her close to me as Manning and V roll on the ground a few times before V lands on top. While Manning is disoriented, V wastes no time bringing her hands to his neck and snapping it.

I look down at Caroline, holding her tightly against me as she stares blankly at her hands.

"Are you alright sweetheart?"

At my voice, her head snaps up to me, startled.

"I..." she nods her head quickly. "I...uh. Yeah. Fine," she says. She tries to give me a reassuring smile, but it's forced, the worry behind her eyes evident. "My heart is still in my chest so I guess that's good," she adds sardonically.

The memory of Manning's hand plunging into her chest instead of mine sends a flash of red hot anger through me.

I grasp her arm tightly, remembering she nearly killed herself by getting between Manning and I. I knew directing my anger at her wasn't right but I've never been one for self control.

I nearly lost her in front of my very eyes...

"What were you thinking Caroline?!" I snap. "Are you bloody daft?! He could've killed you!"

"I know, I know!"

"Then why?!"

"I didn't want to see you hurt, okay?" she cries in frustration. "I saw him coming from you and I just...reacted," she ends quietly.

I still at her words, my chest swelling up with emotion. I look on in wonder when she raises her hands to my cheeks, much like Silas had done posing as her when I thought I had a piece of White Oak lodged in my back. But this time, it is real and I swear I'm living in a twilight zone because this is Caroline touching me, comforting me, having that look on her face that makes me want to be better version of myself for her.

Our gazes lock, her eyes searching mine for an answer to a question she quietly voices more to herself than to me.

"What are you doing to me?" she whispers, lost.

I raise my hand to hold her wrist, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb. "You tell me love," I say in a voice that is barely audible, too entranced with the woman in front of me to do much else.

"I really do care about you," she says in a defeated tone, her face conflicted.

I frown. "Is that truly so wrong? Can I ever acquit myself in your eyes?"

"I..." she sighs, leaning forward to put her forehead against mine. I close my eyes briefly to revel in her warmth and closeness before I reluctantly open them to look at her. Her eyes still closed.

"I don't think that even matters anymore," she says with a mirthless chuckle. "You killed Tyler's mom, Elena's aunt, did so many bad things and still I care." She swallows, shaking her head while keeping contact with my forehead. "I don't want to but I do because," she lifts her eyes to mine, her eyes shining with pain and tears, her turmoil with herself gripping my heart I wished was long dead to feelings, "I see the good in you Klaus. You're terrible, you throw tantrums, you rip people's hearts out, but then you can be so annoying sweet with your damn drawings, your damn accent, your damn dimples..." she says without any malice.

I throw her a smile to display those damn dimples she speaks of, making her smile in return briefly before it falls away.

"And..." she grips the back of my neck tightly, holding me to her. "I don't want to lose you."

My hand travels to the nape of her neck to get trapped under her curls, and I kiss her forehead tenderly, then tilting her head up so I can look at her, losing myself in her blue green eyes.

I am not a selfless man, and her admission is just calling out the possessive wolf in me to claim her as mine. The physical aspect of the vow, I feel it, starts to send tingles through me originating with every area of my body that makes contact with Caroline. I hear her, breath start to go shallow, see her eyes get hooded with lust and I feel my anchors of self control giving way to something primal.

Gods I want to bend her over and shag her senseless...

"See darling? Eye sex," says Kol amused.

I watch Caroline look up at Kol, her attention eventually resting on a sympathetic Bonnie.

"You want to be with him," she says softly to her friend.

I turn to Caroline, gauging her reaction to the comment, waiting for the denials, the rejection...

"I do," she says, elation soaring through me the minute the words are uttered.

I tell myself not to let hope settle in me, the traitorous emotion that it is, but I'm a fool. So desperately I want her by my side, hating myself for that truth.

"Even with the baby, Esther trying to kill you, now Klaus' dad?" she says, arching an eyebrow in disbelief. "Can't you see Care? Being with him will kill you!"

I growl, flashing to the witch's face, making her jump back in fear. I smell it coming off her in waves and I revel in it. "Caroline being with me is none of your concern," I snarl.

She gasps, taking a step back at my approach. She bites her lip, taking a shuddering breath, but she finds the courage to say what she does next. "I may be just her friend but I love Caroline..."

As do I.

"I know you don't have much experience in that department, being hated by your family and having no friends..."

I clench my teeth furious, my hands balling into fists, my body shaking to lash out.

"Bonnie..." warns Caroline.

But little Ms. Bennett is on a roll, her love for Caroline making her go on in her foolish tirade. "But Caroline has people who give a damn about her and will say something when she's in danger in making a mistake. That mistake being you! You can't protect her! She'll die protecting you or be killed by something else! She's better off with Tyler!"

I snap, seeing red at the mention of that ridiculous excuse of a suitor and wolf; the competitor in my fight for Caroline's affections. My hand is around Bonnie's neck in seconds, her eyes bulging in surprise.

"Brother!" cries out Kol.

Before I can squeeze, Kol grabs my wrist, but I react in my rage. Faster than him, I maneuver behind him and snap his neck.

When I bring my attention to back to a frightened Bonnie, Caroline cuts in between us, furious.

"You're not laying another hand on her," she growls at me, her vampire features in full bloom.

"Move aside Caroline. You can get another friend. I've had enough of her," I growl back in return, forcing myself not to get entranced on the sheer beauty of her vampire face which I have only had the pleasure of seeing all but once.

"You hurting Bonnie is NOT okay," she says in finality.

"But her laying seeds of doubt in your head about us is perfectly fine!" I protest hotly.

"There will be no us if you kill her!"

"There is no us now!" I cry out, my heart breaking a little at my admission. "No matter what you say, you will not give me a chance! You're building a life for yourself. You have plans, a future, and things that you want that do not include me." I say, grimly repeating part of her confession in the woods.

Her eyes widen in response, the low blow hitting home when I see them harden and anger flares in them making the veins around her blood shot eyes ripple.

Beautiful.

"You're a fool Niklaus."

I snap my head around at the unexpected voice of V, who slowly stands from Manning's body and turns to face us, her hazel green eyes alight again with warmth and life.

"What you say isn't true. Caroline is in your past, present and future, whether she wants to or not. Her resistance will pass. The Vow is proof of that," she says, her voice coming off tired but confident.

Caroline says partly what I'm thinking before I can say it.

"Not that I'll argue with you about him being an idiot..."

I glare at her.

"How do you know?" asks Caroline.

"Because I've lived it, seen it firsthand. Adversities will come to pass that you will face together, simultaneously pushing away factors that are of no consequence to the wayside."

She looks down at Manning, her face turning instantly cold. "Including the Dark Mistress' manipulations."

" 'The Dark Mistress?' " I echo, my eyebrows wrinkling in confusion.

"The dark mist that shrouds the Executioner and his pack, that feeds off Manning's dark side to manifest itself..." she bends down, and we watch her tilt Manning's body to the side, pulling the back of his tunic back slightly to reveal a crimson, glowing tattoo.

It was exactly like mine, save the color...

"It is her mark," V says breathlessly, her eyes squeezing shut in pain, shaking her head. "You were foolish Sorceress," she turns to Bonnie, upset. "Your kind tends to be. You are trusted to be the caretakers of Nature's laws, not its manipulator to suit your fancy."

Bonnie gets defensive, put out by V's accurate judgement. "Um, excuse you, if it weren't for me, Manning would not be here and you wouldn't be having your family reunion. I did you a favor!"

If V's eyes can burn with stare, they would, so intensely she's staring at Bonnie. "At what cost? Child, you know nothing of the games you play and with what. Are you truly naive that any being would gift you with such power for free? Here you are judging the relationship of Niklaus and Caroline but you are far from innocence yourself. Caroline told me of the time you brought your love Jeremy back from the dead. There were consequences to that were they not? Seeing the dead, rekindling a relationship with his formerly dead lover?"

Bonnie goes pale and Caroline gives a pitying look at her friend's discomfort, before she turns an angry gaze at V.

I simply fold my arms and watch the show, suppressing a smile.

"I didn't tell you anything!" she shouts at her hotly. We didn't even meet till today!"

"Untrue. You simply do not know, because you and Niklaus haven't gone back yet," she says nonchalantly, like the prospect of time travel is not a big deal at all.

"And you expect us to take your word?" I say in a tone that lets her know I think that to be naive and ridiculous. "You who just tried to kill us?"

She stands up and flashes in front of me to confront me, her jaw twitching the only give at how upset the statement makes her.

"Yes," she says firmly. "Perhaps not them, but you. I expect you to take me at my word, my Allvaldr."

"And why is that?"

"The why is embedded in all the reasons you didn't kill me outright the minute Caroline was safe and Manning was put down."

I stiffen, and I growl, annoyed at my hesitation to kill V despite her grave transgression of hurting Caroline being laid bare for all to see. Had I truly wanted to kill her, punish her for touching Caroline, she would of been dead, but here she stands. I look at Manning and my blood boiling at the sight of the man who nearly killed Caroline. Yet, somehow, the need to kill V is not as prominent as my want to kill Manning. Maybe it was because I had seen the coldness in V's eyes, a telltale sign her emotions were truly off or the fact that she was still the one to save me from 52 years of the Hunter's curse. If it ended there, I don't think that would of held me back from killing her.

It was the little things, the things that made me feel an inkling of humanity before Caroline that made me resistant to killing V.

For with her would go my yearly gifts in acknowledgment of my birthday. That I was born, that the event meant something, was special to someone. My siblings, when they remembered, would throw parties here and there if they weren't daggered, gift me with things here and there which lessened with frequency over the centuries...

But V was the constant. She never forgot, she always got me something, like clockwork ever since our first meeting. No matter where I was in the world.

Making me secretly come to love birthdays. A secret that I only shared with Caroline as she lay dying of Tyler's werewolf bite, in our first official meeting.

The gesture had come to mean something to me, even her visits every century. No matter what I had done, or how bloody my hands became, she never looked at me judgement, listening to me rant and rave on my current plight at the time. Offering to spar with me to let out pent up frustrations or sharing stories on world travels...

Though...I inwardly smile, she'd properly chastise me as a parent would before disappearing again.

And those memories made me annoyingly lenient, hesitant to outright kill V when she was only trying to kill me, kill Caroline, in not her right mind.

Manning, however, my eyes setting disdainfully on him on the ground, was different.

He had abandoned me, left me in Mikael's hands to do what he wished: to beat, to demean me.

Why should I extend any type of mercy to such a man? His actions today and then proved only one thing:

He was no better than Mikael and Esther.

And if he was no better than the lot of them, then bugger it. I'll send him back to Hell, or the Other side or whatever after life that awaits the pissant.

But V was asking me to take her at her word, to trust...

"Do not kill him," she suddenly pleads.

Our eyes meet while she goes on. "He does love you. The Dark mistress controls him as Executioner..."

I scoff at that, walking away. "Go home V. Before I kill you after all."

I stop when Caroline comes in front of me, her face determined.

"Let her finish. If your father is being controlled, maybe there is a way to reverse it, to talk to the real him..."

"Not interested," I say shortly, about to sidestep her.

She shoves me back, taking me by surprise. "Stop being a stubborn ass and listen! Manning, your dad, whatever, is big shit on the Other Side for a 1,000 years so he's seen Esther, he permanently killed Mikael, brought Kol and Bonnie back..."

"Get to the point sweetheart," I snap impatiently.

She rolls her eyes and lets out an endearing huff, hands on her hips. "My point Mr. Hybrid Smart Ass is that it's safe to assume he really was on our side before Bonnie summoned him back."

I let out an irritated sigh, feeling in my being that she is right.

"What would you have me do Caroline?" I utter reluctantly after a few moments. And I try to push away the content feeling I have of seeing her smile in response.

She grabs my hand in a casual manner that gives off the aura that holding hands is something we do every day. Her comfort to initiate contact with me now with ease, makes me smile at her genuinely, banishing my anger and frustration like magic.

"So," says Caroline to V. "He's ready to listen now."

I roll my eyes.

"Is there a way to get Manning back to normal?"

V smiles warmly at her. "Yes. There is. That is, if your sorceress, your witch Bonnie is willing to rectify her mistake of endangering you because she thought bringing back the dead was a smart thing to do with no consequences. So judgmental of others, but unwilling to acknowledge their own faults. Witches."

We all look at Bonnie, who looks sad, guilty, V's words hitting their target. "How can I help?" she asks quietly.

V's smile broadens. "Well. May I suggest we get off this highway first before the authorities come? We should probably find a place of refuge to conduct the spell."

She turns to me, silently asking me for permission.

I smirk when Caroline, who catches on, rolls her eyes in disapproval.

"Seriously? You're like his stepmother or something."

"I am her Sovereign Caroline," I explain cockily. "It is natural for her to defer to me."

"Indeed," says V, not denying it without a hint of discomfort about that reality. "Shall we? I have other business to take care of."

Curiosity washes over me then. "What other business?"

She stops walking and when she looks at me, I enjoy the fury and hatred that burns in her eyes with every word she says next:

"The business of going to New Orleans and slitting open Esther Mikaelson's throat for using her magic to make me turn off my emotions. It is her who sent me out to hurt the Salvatores and you."

The last bit makes my body go rigid with anger and then fear.

"Esther is in New Orleans?"

Say no. Say you misspoke.

But V nods. "Yes. So time is of the essence. I will need Bonnie to cloak my energy temporarily so Esther thinks I'm still under her influence."

"I don't get it," chimes in Bonnie. " I thought you were immune to magic."

"I am immune to detrimental, not beneficial magic usually, but Esther had access to a divine, ancient incantation she shouldn't have known about, that I couldn't resist, making me think that Esther is being used, just like Manning, but I cannot be certain. In any case, it will not be long before Esther feels that the incantation is broken. We must get Manning in his right mind and come up with a plan to counterattack what is sure to be an ambush waiting for the lot of you in New Orleans."

I had been away too long, so focused on finding Caroline, the thoughts of New Orleans became secondary, including the baby, but now...

Now. I had to get back.

"Do you think Esther knows about the baby?" says Caroline concerned, pulling me out of my distressed thoughts and I'm impressed again at her capacity to care even though it involves the very object that is separating us (among other things).

V frowns. "The Dark mistress feeds off the darkness that resides in beings which is why she makes her home between Hell and the Other side. That is why bringing back the dead, especially the supernatural dead is taboo. They become linked to the Dark mistress, whether they like it or not, allowing her access to the land of the living. So the short answer is that if Esther displays a stark difference between who she was alive and her resurrected self, if she currently displays madness, a warped sense of love that is different from when she was alive, then it is safe to assume that it is the Dark Mistress that has manipulated her and she is a victim in all this, like Manning. And since the Dark Mistress is a divine entity that is omniscient in regards to those not gifted with a divine mark...

"Then Esther would know," Caroline surmises.

But I am caught up in the new information that V just shared and I swallow down deeply the need to voice it out loud.

"So our mother..."

My head snaps in Kol's direction, who has now recovered from his broken neck. He clearly just heard what I have and I have no doubt my face displays the same pang I feel in my heart.

Our mother was being possessed, driven to madness by an unknown force to kill her children.

And deep down inside, the mother who loved her children enough to turn them vampires so they would never die was possibly still there.

The smiles of the woman who bandaged my wounds after Mikael's unnecessary beatings along with Rebekah who looked at me with such affection...

No...No. It's too much.

"Klaus..." comes Caroline's worried voice anchoring me before I lose it. She squeezes my hand and I close my eyes, drawing strength from her support, her light.

"Is there a way to know for sure if what you say is true?" I ask V, finding my voice, keeping it even.

She gives me a sympathetic look. "There is," she says softly, "but the question is Niklaus, if the mother you knew could be brought back, would you want her? Could you forgive her?"

Our eyes meet, my mind a vast array of indecision for I don't know.

I have hated Esther and Mikael so long that I don't know how to do anything else.

I truly do not know.

V picks Manning up and puts him over her shoulder. "Let us start with exorcising the Dark Mistress from your father, then perhaps we can have some indication if there is a chance. By then, maybe you'll know if you want your mother back. Otherwise..." she gives me a cold look. "I'll be killing her for laying a hand on me."

I watch V flash away for a second, squeezing Caroline's hand before we flash off behind V, my mind and heart heavy with unsaid emotions and thoughts.

A/N Well. I'm working on the next scene with Manning's exorcism. I know I threw a lot at you guys, but hopefully some of your questions were answered and you have an idea where the story is heading. Thoughts?