disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries, the originals or legacies nor any of the characters in it, only the characters bael & rhea.

Mystic Falls

2013

For not the first time today, Rebekah found herself wondering what the hell was going on. Only now she was wondering why she had followed Bonnie and her friends to the basement of the Lockwood Manor. The Salvatore Boarding house was currently off-limits due to the Heretics living there. So Caroline had decided it would be a wonderful idea to bring their prisoner here.

Now she stared at the boy. To her, so many vampires were younger and this one was a child. He felt powerful that was for sure, but he couldn't older than at most five hundred. He was young, at least seventeen years old. He was still passed out from having his neck snapped but she found it intriguing that he reminded her of Stefan and some extent Damon. Perhaps he was an ancestor they didn't know about?

She filed that question away and then turned her head towards Caroline. The baby vampire was pacing the room, an ear turnt up in case she was needed upstairs. Rebekah could hear them too; Rhea and Bonnie were arguing and judging by how Caroline was acting, this had to be a first for them.

It was odd, she realized. Bonnie Bennett being a parent was something she had never considered. But the little girl upstairs seemed to make that idea a high possibility. They had briefly let Rebekah in on what happened; how Rhea was Bonnie's daughter but from the future. Apparently her grandmother had sent her back and none of them knew why. Rebekah had grimaced but understood that. The spirits only acted when they wanted to or even it benefited them.

Although, why bring a child back years? What exactly was so special about this little girl? Another question she had was why she felt the same way towards her that felt towards Hope?

The doorbell rang and both blondes frowned at the new heartbeat. Just who the hell was there?

Bonnie's footsteps sounded as she walked across the floor and to the door. Opening it, Rebekah noticed the way hers and this newcomer's heartbeats skipped at the same time.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Bonnie demanded.

"Can we talk?"

"No."

"Bonnie," the newcomer pleaded and Rebekah frowned. Why did that voice sound familiar?

The pair seemed to fall silent for a moment before Bonnie's voice rang out. "Rhea, stay right there!"

A third, much softer pair of pair of footsteps stopped. The child let out a curse in what Rebekah knew was old Norse. How did she know that language? And more important why did she knew it was Kol's favorite curse word? She even pronounced it the same way; quick and with a huff of annoyance.

Now she had to know what was going on. Without a word to the younger vampire, Rebekah made her way up the stairs of the basement. She followed the voices and found Bonnie, Rhea and their new guest. She had more than a few questions to ask but they died on her lips when she saw who it was.

It shouldn't have been possible, but she was staring at a face she had not seen in almost two hundred years.

"Bael?" Rebekah breathed in shock. The warlock flinched at the sight of her. This was impossible, she thought.

"What is she doing here?" Bael directed his question to Bonnie, who was looking at the Original.

"I came to see what this Heretics mess was about," Rebekah answered before Bonnie could say a word. Her blue eyes locked on the man's, burning with a new found curiosity. "The last time I saw you, you were disappearing into the crowds at one of Nik's parties. That was well before I was daggered. So, how are you alive?"

Bonnie frowned. "You didn't know he was?"

"And why would I know that?"

"Because he's your brother," the answer didn't come from either Bael or Bonnie. Instead it had been Rhea who had said it. The ten year old was now seating on the steps of the spiral stairs that lead up to the second floor.

The room grew silent for a moment before Rebekah whirled on two witches. Her eyes locked on Bonnie, prepared to attack when she was knocked to the ground by an incoming hex. Bael stepped over the threshold, hand outstretched and sending a new hex her way. The blonde gasped as her throat began to close and she craned to look up at her attacker.

Her heart stopped as she stared up into a look she had seen many times in her childhood. Her father's default face had always been angry but it had never been directed at her. She had seen it many times sent at Niklaus and she knew it like second nature.

Bael stared at her with that same anger. Only he didn't looked like he was going to strike her unless provoked.

"Don't touch her," he warned.

Rebekah opened her mouth to speak when a small body stood in front of him. She watched as Rhea stood there, arms raised in defense.

Bonnie's breath hitched as she moved to grab her daughter but the child shook her head at her. Instead she moved one hand to grasp a hold of Bael's.

The two stared at each other and she watched as wonder and confusion set in his eyes. He let out a shaky breath and dropped to the child's level. He brought his other hand up to cup her cheek.

"How is this possible?" He asked and then turned his head towards Bonnie. "Did you know about this?"

"She didn't," Rhea told him.

"Didn't know what?" Bonnie asked, though there was a sinking feeling in her gut that told her she already knew what was about to be said.

"She's..." he paused and swallowed. It was almost too hard to explain, too crazy of an idea. But as he stole one more glance at the little girl, his very magic told him it wasn't a lie.

"That she's our daughter," he finished, keeping his eyes on Bonnie.

New Orleans

2028

"So that's the plan? We just wait for your little brat to come back home?" Damon asked the pair. They had just finished explaining how Rhea being sent back had somehow set into motion Bonnie being revived. He snorted into his morning bourbon and then downed it in one go.

Bonnie looked at her best friend with a tinge of sympathy. "I can't explain why she was sent back or why. Grams said something about it bringing things together."

"So if she got sent back to precisely 2013, how come we don't remember her?" Caroline asked, sitting in the arm chair not too far off from the sofa where Bonnie, Bael, Hope and Hayley sat. The teenager had nestled into her aunt's lap like she was a child again and listened to her heartbeat. Her tears had long since dried but her eyes were still puffy and red, but she wore a small smile as Bonnie played with her curls.

Her aunt had died bring her cousin into the world. She had never fully recovered from that. She had always had her aunt in her life, since she was a year old. Having her taken away had hurt, but she never blamed Rhea.

Hayley nodded in agreement with Caroline. "I second that one," she told them. She remembered the Mystic Fall turning up to the Albatross with Rebekah in the dead of night but she didn't remember seeing Rhea at all.

"I can only assume it has to be a spell." Bonnie answered both of them.

"Always a fucking spell," Damon grumbled into his new drink. It amazed him how witches could have a spell for almost everything.

"Damon," Bonnie warned, her hand paused at Hope's scalp, her jndex finger wrapped around a set of curls. The tribrid turned her eyes on the vampire, looking every bit like her mother with that glare.

Damon stuck his tongue out at the teenager before he turned to Bonnie. "And you! You're just gonna let the spirits tell you how to handle this? They were willing to let you die!"

"And so were you at one point in our lives," Bonnie shot back. She knew it was a low blow. Damon has always expressed a guilt for willing to put her life below Elena's.

Damon flinched at that. The witch sighed and then patted Hope on the head.

"Up you go, Hope. You're not four anymore kiddo. My legs are gonna go numb," Hope pouted at her aunt's words but got up. Bonnie thanked her and also offered to let her lay on her lap some other time. Turning to the others, she squeezed Bael's hand before she spoke.

"I need to speak to Damon alone."

Her husband nodded, leaned in for a kiss on her lips and then left another on her forehead, lingering there for a moment.

"Call if you need anything," he offered her as she got up.

"No need, Hayley and Caroline will probably be at the door." Bonnie assured him with a smile and then shot a glance at the two women. Hayley winked and then headed off. Caroline followed after her but never stop glaring at the elder Salvatore.

Once the door closed, Bonnie wiped her palms on her lap. She was dressed in a pair of leggings Hayley used to own while the shirt she wore as one of Bael's Henley shirts. It was a day old and she wore it solely because it still had his scent: bergamot with a a hint of some kind of mahogany. Her hair was all natural, curls coiled and falling just under her ears.

Damon had to admire she looked beautiful. A small part of him wished it was his shirt she wore. But he had to remember that he messed up that chance. He could never place when he had fallen in love with her, but he could tell when she had given up all chances of them having a future.

The days following an attack their mother had lead on the Lockwood house, Bael had been bedridden with a very painful hex. He had almost died from it. And it had been meant for Bonnie. They had been on the road to New Orleans and the half Mikaelson been closer to death's door until Freya had stepped in to help.

Bonnie never left his side. She barely let go of his hand, even when Damon tried to get her eat. After he woke up, Damon watched as their friendship took a backseat to their blooming romance.

"You came to see me a lot," Bonnie spoke, her eyes on her wedding ring.

He blinked, "You were there?"

She nodded, thinking of all the times he had come to see her drunk. How he had came so plastered one time he had split his guts about how he missed her, how he let a relationship with her slip through his fingers. Or how he knew Elena and Marcel were closer than they wanted him to know. How he had let Stefan distance himself. Anything that bothered him he had come and laid it all out at her grave and she had watched him, saddened by how far he had let himself fall.

She had seen a lot of people in the ten years she was dead. Bael came just as much as Damon, though he talked about his family, things he had never gotten to tell her when she was alive. His mother, his step father and even how he wished he could have met her Grams.

Some days he spoke of Rhea, others he talked about the child they had lost. They never got close to figuring out if it had been a son or daughter they had lost. They liked to believe it was a girl, an older sister for Rhea. That belief had come from how Mikael's first born had been a daughter and Bonnie was a first born child as well. On those days, his eyes would get far off and he would apologize for not being able to do anything more. He had killed the cause for her miscarriage, a vampire named Julian who was also Lily Salvatore's lover.

"You heard..." Damon trailed off, afraid to meet her eyes.

"How you're in love with me? How you think I hate you for how you treated my daughter?" Bonnie asked, both notions dig and a rhetorical question. "I can't say I'm happy that you seem to think I'd be ok with it. Rhea is a child, Damon. A ten year old girl who just wanted to know who I was and what I was like, but you saw her as the reason I died."

"Because she was!" He yelled, years worth of answer bubbling within him. "I had just gotten over losing Elena, Bonnie. I just accepted that I couldn't have you. You had just gotten married for fuck's sake and you wasted it."

"I didn't waste it," Bonnie countered, crossing her arms over her chest. The green of her eyes were like ice and he shivered at the coldness within. "I was happy Damon. I was truly happy with the choice I made."

"You could have lived," he whispered.

"I did."

Damon turned to make himself another drink, his shoulders tense. How could it have come to this? His fingers tightened around the glass, hearing it splinter under the pressure and he reached for the bottle. Somewhere between him grabbing the neck and lifting it, the cup shattered. Glass punctured his finger tips and then he growled. He whirled around, hurtling the bottle. He was careful not to throw it anywhere near Bonnie.

"Why did you give up your life for hers?" He shouted over the bottle smashing to the ground. He ignored his bloody hand, and the small voice in the back of his head telling him not continue.

"Why throw your whole life away for her? She was nothing but a risk to you! You heard what the doctor said, Bonnie. You were throwing away your life for a child that would kill you! But you," he broke off and laughed. He bent over and laughed, running a bloodied hand over his face and through his locks, making them wet and sticky.

"You said she was worth it," he spat. He walked up to her and stopped when he was towering over her, whiskey on his breath as he hissed his next words at her.

"Was she worth all of this? Throwing away our lives in Mystic Falls when things went tits up and my mother came for your head after you killed her precious adopted children? What about when your darling husband left her with the fucking quarterback because he couldn't stand to look at her? She looks just like you, did you know that BonBon?" The venom in his tone reminded her of when she was seventeen and he had spoke to her like she was the help.

He leaned in, whispering into her ear. "If she was worth that much of a risk, I should have let Kai kill you."

His head recoiled before he could register the slap. He laughed again, this one just a broken as the one he had let out earlier.

"Is this the end?" He asked her.

"You want it to be," Bonnie told him and then turned towards the door. "I won't lie, you said some real hurtful things, Damon. But to answer your question, the answer is still yes. Rhea is my daughter, I carried her for months. I loved her from the moment I found out about her."

He stared at her, about to say something when she continued. "I'm sorry you never got to that closure with Lily. I'm not sorry for being the one to end her life and I never will."

She paused and allowed a moment to pass between them. "You need to think long and hard about what you've said and what you've been holding onto and you need to do that away from me."

Damon flinched. "So you are ending our friendship."

"No, we're taking a break," she told him. "Until you can get your head out of your ass."

"Bonnie..."

"I think you should start now," she told him. She turned the knob to the door and opened it. Glancing over her shoulder, Bonnie nodded him with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Goodbye for now, Damon."

Mystic Falls

2013

Sebastian came around some time later in the evening. He wasn't sure where he was, all he knew was that he was hungry. He glanced at the chains around his wrists and ankles. Right, so he was hungry and imprisoned. Lovely, he thought bitterly.

Lily was going to have a field day, he thought. It was an odd expression but he had heard Enzo mutter it. He wasn't sure what having a field in the middle of day had to do with Lily but he let it slide. The modern day was so strange.

"Hi," came a small voice. Sebastian frowned and followed the sound. Rhea sat a few feet in front of him, nestled on a stool. She looked to be in sleepwear; a pair of bottoms with what he guessed were bunnies and crescent moons on them and a white shirt of a young girl with long blonde hair, large blue eyes and the words "In the name of the Moon!" written in bright pink letters. Her hair was done up in two curly puffs, almost similar to the girl on the shirt.

"Ah you again," he drawled, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He glanced around looking for the blonde woman who had come to her aid earlier.

"It's just me," she said, and stepped off the stool. She was barefoot and he frowned at the sight. It was a dirt floor and he could see the rocks. Some were jagged and she could cut herself.

"Where are your shoes?" He asked, watching her pause in her trek. A good thing too because she was going to end up stepping on a nasty looking rock. The girl stepped back a few steps and looked away, clearly embarrassed.

"I didn't want to make too much noise," she muttered. It was miracle she had made it down the basement stairs at all. Her parents were asleep and aunt Rebekah was on the phone with uncle Elijah.

She had to beg her aunt Caroline for just a few minutes when Sebastian. She was awaiting at the top of the stairs in case the vampire tried to attack her. But Rhea didn't think he was going to do that.

He had been nice to her.

Sebastian felt a smile tug at his lips. She was an interesting child. Vampires for aunts and and living in a house that smelt like a old werewolf den. Oh she was an oddity and his curiosity was peeked.

"Why are you down here? It can't be to apologize," he cocked his head in curiosity.

The chains had a good bit of length on them, so it wasn't like he could go far. If anything though, if he has been a much or moral less vampire, he could have drained her dry by now and tried to escape. He could smell her magic, it would have tasted delicious.

Rhea held something up. His fangs itched at the sight of the blood bag. Two of them in her hand, far too much for her fingers to hold. She tossed one to him and it landed at his feet.

Sebastian pounced, snatching up the bag and tearing into it with his fangs. He moaned as it washed over his taste buds and he drank it down like it was water. Once there was none left for him to suck, he ripped it open and licked what could he. He didn't care that he looked like a barbarian. He was hungry.

He gasped and licked at his gums. He was almost certain he looked very bit like a vampire to her now; bloodied lips and fingers, he could feel his veins throbbing along his eyelids and the familiar gaze of red out the corners of his eyes. And yet, as he stared this little girl down she was showing no fear.

Instead she stood, arms cross and the second bag of blood dangling by her fingers. She stared at him waiting, like this was an every day occurrence for her.

Sebastian stepped towards her and once he was close enough, he found himself towering over the child.

"Why are you down here?" He asked again, his voice a lull. He couldn't compel her, she was a witch.

Her green eyes narrowed at him. "To prove a point to my Mama and Papa," she answered and then dropped the second blood bag. He moved to grab it but watched as she kicked it away.

He growled at her. "What was that..." he roared and then paused. This was a child he was talking to, he reminded himself. He twitched briefly, trying to calm himself before he offered her a smile.

"Rhea dear," he cooed at her, the blue of his eyes twinkling. "Why did you do that?"

Rhea stared at him, "Like I said, I'm proving a point."

Sebastian frowned and then it deepened when he heard voices shouting upstairs. One he knew was Caroline's and the other was another woman. The second woman was frantic as they raced down the stairs. The pirate turned back to the little girl, about to ask what she meant when he heard her mutter something in Latin.

He watched, transfixed as the little girl cut her palm. She held her hand out for the vampire to drink.

"Go on," she offered just as the door brusted open and the two woman came in. "I offer you this, Sebastian the Merciless."

He frowned, she knew his title? Not many did nowadays.

"Rhea!" Cried the woman who had been terrified. Sebastian spared a glance her way and saw how much they looked alike. He also knew that look well. A mother worried for her child.

If she was so worried, why leave her unprotected in front of a ravenous vampire? Sebastian wondered as he let his eyes follow the droplets of blood running down Rhea's small wrist.

"What point are you proving?" He demanded, ceasing hold of her forearm. "That I am not a monster? You spoke my moniker, little one. I am Sebastian the Merciless."

Rhea smiled, a bit woozy from blood loss. "If you're so merciless, you would have drank from me already."

He growled. The damn brat had a point. He shot a glare at the two women but let his eyes soft when he met the mother's.

He sported a fanged grin. "She does have a point," he purred and yanked the child close.

"I accept your parley, Rhea dear," he murmured into her ear, raising her wrist and licked away the blood. He let his tongue follow its path to her cut and then pulled back and brought his fangs to his own wrist and tore open the skin.

Meeting the older woman's eyes, he shoved his bloodied wrist to Rhea's throat. He had expected her to drink, just squirm and run to her mother. He let out a scream when he felt like his brain was on fire. He felt a rush of air and he watched as Caroline reached for Rhea and held her close.

"Mama stop!" Rhea called, blood smearing her bottom lip as the older woman raised her arm, a spell on her lips.

"Rhea, he hurt you!" The woman cried.

"No he didn't!" Rhea protested, wiggling out of Caroline's grasp. She moved to stand in front of him, arms out stretched. "He didn't hurt me," she said though she had turned to look at him with a bright smile.

"He was drinking your blood!"

"That I offered!" Rhea snapped at the woman.

Caroline shook her head. "You shouldn't have done that, Rhea. That was risky and I shouldn't have let you come down here without me."

"We are going to discuss that later," Rhea's mother said, eyes cutting to Caroline and then back to her daughter. "Upstairs now. I am going to be discussing this with your...father."

Sebastian cocked an eyebrow in interest. There had been some hesitation there. His eyes moved back Rhea, watching as she moved but not towards the door. She instead moved to grab the blood bag on the floor and head back to Sebastian. Holding it out to him, she smiled at him.

"Here you go," she beamed.

Sebastian took it from her, "Thank you."

"I'll be back when I can," she told him and to the shock of the rest of them, she attacked him with a hug. She squeezed him right around the middle and then pulled back, offering him another smile. "Goodnight Sebastian the Merciless!"

He watched perplexed as she rushed over to her mother and then up the stairs. Although he and Caroline heard her call back for Caroline not to snap his neck. The singsong tone she used has Caroline scoffing.

"She's definitely a Mikaelson," grumbled the blonde.

I know I said Friday but I wound up out all day and it slipped my mind I can update on my phone. I am gonna try and update this more frequently as well as "tethered" and "til the end". I am shooting for a Thursday update for the next chapter.

Thank you all for reading!