Author's Note: Me again! Another round of fic for you all. I hope you are continuing to enjoy my little tale. If you are please let me know. A short little note makes all the difference in the world to writers!

Part Twelve: not the biggest

She may as well have sucked all the air from the room.

Bonnie feels her words settle between them and can do nothing else but stand there in the aftermath. She should be preparing herself because it is clear from the look on his face that he is furious with her answer. As she has known he would be. She has deceived him. One thing she knows about Klaus Mikaelson is that he does not take betrayal laying down.

"You can't bring anyone back," he finally says (after taking what she thinks is a beat too long). He has basically just repeated what she had told him as if he is truly trying to wrap his head around it. She is waiting for him to yell, to twist his face into pure rage and to lunge.

She shakes her head slowly, teasing her magic into her limbs. "I'm sorry," she says, the words quiet and benign. She isn't even sure if she actually means them or if she is trying to offer him some platitude in hopes that it gives her an extra second to react when the other foot comes down.

"You're sorry?" He spits, looking genuinely confused that she has said the words in the first place. "You should be. But not for the reasons you think. You should be sorry for being a poor excuse for a witch…"

She hasn't been expecting that response and it clearly shows on her face. "Excuse me?"

His anger is building and he seems content to use his words at the moment. "The mighty Bonnie Bennett - the last of the infamous Bennett witches. Who can trace their lineage back before I was born, by the way. I have seen so many of you over my lifetime - fierce fighters who can bend magic to their will. And yet, here you are…" He flings his hand at her as if she is some afterthought. "...unable to even bring back the dead. You are a disappointment to your name, Bonnie."

She can't pretend that doesn't sting. She does her best to lessen the blow by standing her ground and holding a stiff upper lip. In some ways, she feels he is telling the truth. She is a disappointment to those who have come before her. How many Bennetts would find themselves at the mercy of someone like Lavinia? She thinks of her grandmother, the strongest woman she will ever know (she is sure of that already) and knows that Sheila would have seen Lavinia coming a mile away. She might have toyed with her, pulled her in but in the end, Lavinia would have walked away empty handed. Not so with Bonnie. Bonnie had not only opened the door widely but invited Lavinia to come through with a smile on her face.

"It's not that simple," she reasons and despite her best efforts to remain passive in the face of his insult, she feels the need to defend herself.

He laughs, the sound bouncing off the walls. There is no real humor beyond the action; he is just ensuring that she knows exactly what he thinks of her statement. "Oh come on, little witch…" Suddenly the silly nickname feels like a weapon. "...I have seen you in action. You nearly killed me. Not everyone can say that. Not everyone can say that and live. Yet here you are, safe and sound. For now." The last two words drip with intention (she readies herself in case he decides to act on them). "And now you are telling me that you can't pull off a resurrection spell? It seems preposterous."

"It's not that simple," she repeats more forcefully this time. If he is going to argue about the details then he damn well is going to listen to the truth of it all. "Don't you think I tried? Don't you think that is the first thing I did? I stopped the hellfire for God's sake…" She still remembers the rush of pure power she had felt in those moments. She had finally understood just how powerful she truly was. "I could do it. I could reach through the void and pull him back...but then the reality of it all reared its ugly head." In telling him this, she is forcing herself to relive yet another low moment in her life. She remembers sitting in her circle, surrounded by everything she needed to return Enzo to life. She had yelled the words over and over, channelling her magic into them until her voice was hoarse. It had only been when she had spoken to a few other witches that she finally understood why she had been so powerless. "The Other Side is gone, Klaus."

She can see that she has hooked him in enough to stand still during what she has to say (thus prolonging her chance to ready herself when they finally came to blows). " - what does that have to do with anything?" he asks slowly and she knows he already fears the answer.

She closes her eyes, feeling the familiar sense of loss and disappointment when she had learned the truth herself. "A witch created the Other Side, therefore witches have some sovereignty over what happens there. When it existed, we could pluck someone back - not without cost of course but we could do it. Then it got blinked out of existence."

"And those in it went with it," Klaus concludes.

She shakes her head fiercely. "No, no, they still exist," she tells him, not sure if she is trying to give him a bit of peace or if she is placating herself. "They just are somewhere that witches don't control. There are some things in nature that are entirely natural, untouched by magic. We can try to manipulate them but we are not always successful. Or when we are, there are grave consequences." She nearly laughs at the irony of standing in front of one such consequence. Esther had tried to play with the boundaries of a natural life and look at what she got. "Wherever they are now, that's beyond me…"

Klaus' gaze shifts to the floor for a moment and he swallows (perhaps holding back on whatever emotion that is trying to bubble up). He only looks up when she thinks he has been successful. "You lied to me."

"I did."

"You told me you could bring her back," he continues.

"I did."

"Why?" When he says this she realizes he has not been as successful as he wants to be in hiding his emotion. She can hear something familiar in it and her heart sinks. This is not as simple as she had first believed.

"Because I needed you help," she admitted and then shrugged her shoulders. "And you weren't offering it for free. Of course I was going to go along with any suggestion you made."

"And when you couldn't follow through?" Klaus prompts.

"That was a problem for a free Bonnie. One that no longer had to worry about Lavinia breathing on the back of her neck." She knows this day has been coming but she hoped it would be after she has gotten what she needed from him. She shakes her head and repeats what she said earlier (this time, surprisingly, she means it). "I am sorry, Klaus."

Because now she understands. His reaction, although guarded, has given him away. When they had made their deal that night in the courtyard, he had asked for a friend of his to be returned. Someone who's opinion he missed. A vampire who could help him in furthering his cause. She hadn't put much thought into his request because she had been desperate - she would have agreed to anything. So she had simply taken it at face value. Now she knows it is more than that. He has been asking for the same thing she has wanted along: for the person he loves to be returned.

How could she have missed that?

Maybe she has let her preconceived notions about Klaus cloud her judgement. She has never seen him as one capable of love. She remembers how she stood on the sidelines as he tried his best to win over Caroline. There had been nothing in what he had done and said that spoke to her of love. Instead, she had seen it for what it was - obsession. He had not wanted to love Caroline, he had wanted to win. She had been a pretty prize that remained just out of reach - practically a siren call for a man like Klaus.

But now…

But now Bonnie has to contend with the fact that she has seen him with Freya, with Hope. She has seen how he loves them - and she cannot call it anything but that. With his sister, he is stern, argumentative at times but Bonnie can easily see how he defers to her, how he seeks out her counsel even if she tells him something he does not want to hear (she almost wishes that Freya was standing next to her right now). With Hope - well, that is something she is still trying to wrap her head around. Klaus' fatherhood should be a joke to her but she cannot deny how he is utterly devoted to that girl. There is no doubt in her mind that she comes first above all things. He worships at her feet, a position Bonnie still finds hard to picture Klaus in.

Hell, if she really thinks hard enough she will see the love between Klaus and Elijah. But her view of them as a whole has been muddied by their past encounters and truthfully, right now she does not have time to try and correct it. She simply has to admit what she now knows: Klaus is capable of love.

And he has lost someone he had given it to.

"Who is she?" Bonnie doesn't think. She just speaks. It is an echo of his question to her but there is no malice in her tone. She is not asking because she wants to use the information against him. She simply wants to know.

Klaus immediately curls into himself, putting his remaining guards up. "Don't."

She doesn't. There is no sense in it. Unlike him, right now, she has no desire to curl her fingernails into his open wounds. She is still trying to tend to her own. "For what it's worth, if I could - I would." It is no consolation; she knows that. But she wants him to know that she understands the damage this kind of pain can do.

"That's not good enough," he tells her and every muscle in his body seems to be straining against whatever tentative hold he has had on himself up until now.

She nods her head and then takes a deep breath, pulling her magic fully to the surface now.

This is it.

She thinks she is ready but he is fueled by a freshly broken heart. He is able to wrap his hand around her throat and propel them forward. Her back meets the wall and she swears she feels the cabin shudder around them. It is any wonder that he doesn't bring it down around them. She forces herself to meet his eyes and finds them blazing down at her. There is little human left to be found in them. She only sees the monster she remembered from her teenage years.

He leans in, clearly ready to rip her throat out with his teeth and she is prepared for that. She claps both of her hands on his temples and lets her magic flow, conducted from one hand to the other. The effect is immediate and devastating for him. He shouts in agony and she can feel his knees buckle, pushing him against her before he slides down the length of her body to pool at her feet. She doesn't let up. She can't. He is fueled by grief and she has learned from experience that next to love, it is the most powerful emotion there is. He won't stop. He has to transfer that pain somewhere.

"You know that I get it," she says, trying to keep her voice calm as she speaks. She has to bend to keep her hands pressed against him. He is looking up at her with murderous intentions, blood beginning to seep out her nose. She wonders how they are going to come out of this deadlock. "I did what I had to. You would have done the same. Don't pretend that you are noble enough not to."

He is still fighting back, his hands reaching out so his fingers can dig into the flesh of her legs. There is a growl deep in his throat, rumbling lowly until he can force it out between clenched teeth. There is no reasoning with him right now. He has given himself over fully to the beast inside of him.

She does what she has to in order to defuse the situation. She sends him flying in the opposite direction. He goes through the open door and bounces off the wall. This time she does hear the telltale crack of wood. She is quick to swipe her hand and close her bedroom door. While he is still pulling himself together on the hallway floor, she is quick to move and run her hand across the seam of her door, effectively sealing him out (or more accurately, sealing herself in). It is a temporary solution but until he is able to pull out the humanity in himself again (the part of him that loves Hope with everything he has; the part of him that loved the mysterious her; Bonnie knows it is there now and she is counting on it to help right their ship).

She has barely finished the deed when he is at the door, slamming his body against it. She still has her hands pressed against the wood and the vibrations travel up her arms. He calls her name, promises her death and somehow she doesn't think she can blame him.

X

Klaus leaves the cabin once more. He tears it apart as he goes, leaving destruction in his wake. He wants her to know, hiding behind that door, that he is not conceding anything. She has just left him no choice in the matter.

Unlike before when grief had propelled him, he is fueled by anger. He has no real destination in mind. He leaves the little clearing behind, stomping through the thick undergrowth. He should give himself over to the wolf. He can allow some of this blind rage to expel itself naturally. But he can't - his mind is too full of thoughts (jumbled painful thoughts) that tether him tightly to his humanity. He is trapped.

She has used him. He had stood there as she poured out her story of lost love and how she had been desperate to bring him back, feeling sorry for her (mutual grief is a powerful binder after all). Hating how Lavania had swooped in and taken advantage of it.

And the whole time Bonnie has been doing the same thing to him.

She has dangled a promise (hope) in front of him and he has merrily danced along to her tune. He has put up with her jabs; he has suppressed his desire to punish her for her many transgressions against him - all because he had once seen a bright light at the end of the tunnel. All an illusion as it turns out.

He can't help but wildly swing his fist around, embedding it in the trunk of a tree with a roar. The wood splinters and tears into his skin but he is paying no attention to the pain. He had trusted her, he realizes. Trusted someone whose past is proof enough that he should have sent her packing upon the very sight of her. He can't fully blame her. He owns some of this himself. He has prided himself on being the master of manipulation and he has not seen her coming.

All because of love.

Klaus had once declared it the ultimate weakness and in this moment it feels as if it is living up to his words. However, he now understands it is not that simple. He never felt weak knowing that Camille loved him. He feels strong every time Hope looks at him like he is the most important person in the room. He is comforted by the closeness of Freya, Elijah and even Hayley (although the latter two seem determined to call out every behavior he exhibits). As much as he will never admit it aloud, love has given him so much more than it has taken from him.

But right now, it has turned on him, showing him its underbelly and robbing him of the ability to think straight.

He is deep in the bayou before he finally stops. There is nothing around him; his preternatural senses are already in overdrive - he will notice the slightest move. Feeling comforted by the fact that he is utterly alone, he sinks down onto the damp ground. He is still seething but he gets the sense that if he starts, he will never stop. He will destroy any and everything in his path and then perhaps even set fire to that cabin with her still instead.

(surprisingly, there is a part of him that immediately balks at the thought)

It is better for him here. He can bring himself to something more even keeled before he lets the wolf be free to take care of the rest. He tells himself that the pain he is feeling is not nearly as strong as losing Camille in the first place. This is only an echo of something he has never quite been able to shake himself free of.

And really, he should have seen this coming. Not only because Bonnie Bennett is not his friend, but because he has been warned. She is not the first witch he has asked (begged) this favor of. Camille had barely been in the ground when he had turned to Freya, grief stricken and in need to make things right. She had refused, not because she did not want to see him happy but because she did not have Camille's voice in such matters. She had claimed she could not hear it and with that, she did not feel it was her place to interfere. Freya had been in the midst of one of her century-long slumbers when the Other Side fell apart - it is entirely possible that she had not understood why Camille was just beyond her reach. Part of him now knows that he can no longer hold a grudge against his sister in this regard. He almost laughs at the silver lining but no sound comes out.

Instead he sits, his eyes locked on the ground in front of him. He is not truly seeing anything, far too lost in his emotions. Despite this, instinct is not far from the surface and when the slightest shift occurs in the air around him his entire body stiffens. He raises his head, his gaze shifting until he falls on her.

The one they have been waiting for.

Klaus has been unsure what to expect but he can safely say it is more than the plain woman that stands a few feet from him. If it had not been for the power that radiates off her in waves, he might have dismissed her all together. But he can feel it already - she is filled to the brim with (stolen) magic.

"Hello, hybrid," she says simply, tilting her head to take him in (as if he is some rarity that she has just stumbled across).

He stands, unfolding his limbs so that he is showing her his true size. "There you are," he spits. "Long overdue it seems."

"I am sorry that I kept you waiting."

She is mocking him and in his current state it is hardly the best of ideas. He growls, noticing how she does not flinch at the sound. The way she stands strikes him as almost bored, as if he is the last nuisance before she can claim her prize. He may not like Bonnie Bennett that much right now (and he could easily step aside instead of burning the cabin down) but everything in him is also begging for a fight. She is the perfect distraction, a living embodiment of everything that has gone wrong in the past few days.

He can't wait to show her her own beating heart.

"Shall we?" she says, giving him that final push.

He doesn't answer. Instead he throws himself upon her.

X

Bonnie doesn't sink to the floor this time. She is pacing, like a cage wild animal. She doesn't think too hard on the fact that she is the one who slid the lock in place. It had been her only option in the face of Klaus' fury. He hadn't taken too kindly to it and the sounds of the quaint little cabin being ripped to pieces was proof enough that she had done the right thing given the circumstance.

Now it is quiet enough to think again, she is quickly searching for a solution. There are a few options, all of which are not that appealing given her circumstance. The easiest one is to cut and run. She is used to this and her experience will allow her to get far enough ahead of him that she may be able to breathe a little easier. Of course, he may just chase her and she will have two on her trail instead of one. Add to that, if she runs, she loses her biggest weapon against Lavinia.

She can't bring herself to totally abandon the idea.

She has put all this time and effort into it. She has let Klaus swagger around, lording over her with glee. She has let him drag her along his so-called errands and listened as he threw his knowledge of the magical greats of New Orleans in her face. She is so close to being free that she can almost taste.

And…

There is the guilt. Not something she thought she would feel in relation to Klaus Mikaelson. She has a fond memory of looking down at him in that coffin, wrapped in chains and waiting for Ric to drive the white oak stake home. He had pleaded with her for help that day, his eyes drawing her in and his voice echoing around inside her head. She had been so sorely tempted to leave him to die and she wouldn't have felt a thing. It had only been his connection to her friends that saved him that day.

But now, she feels guilty for her actions. She tells herself she really shouldn't. For one thing, it is Klaus. If their situations had been reversed, he would have done the same as she without blinking. Plus, she hadn't known. Not really. The night when she had sat down to negotiate the times she took what he said at face value: he wanted the return of a valuable vampire to him. She had no idea then that he was in love with that vampire. She might not have even believed him if he had confessed such a thing. That had been before she had seen him with Hope.

She knows how she feels, having her own grief weaponized against her. It has driven her to the end of her rope and she is holding on for dear life. He has more to live for than her and in the end, he may be able to get past this without any interference from her but still, she can't let herself become the villain in all of this.

She has to make it right (maybe there is something else she can offer him; another prize to dangle in front of him; one that she can pull off).

Which means she has to go after Klaus.

She contemplates whether or not she should wait the night out. She has a feeling that much like the night before, he will roam the woods, only this time the wolf will be far more vicious. In the morning, they can talk. Or she can try to talk and hope that he listens. It is the safer route to take but somehow she can't help but feel there is a countdown over her head and she has precious time life before it all comes to head. She doesn't know if the feeling is born of paranoia or if there is something innate in her magic that leaves her with the impression that she has to move fast. Either way, she is finding Klaus.

(she briefly wonders if it is better to die at his hands than become one of Lavinia's wraiths)

Her mind set, Bonnie turns on her heels and moves to the door. She places her hand on the wood and pulls her magic back, effectively unsealing the lock. She takes a deep breath, opens the door and steps into the hallways.

Only to find herself in Hope Mikaelson's bedroom instead.

For a moment, she stands there completely bewildered and disoriented. She spins herself in a complete circle expecting to find herself in the cabin once more. Instead she is looking at paintings, in various stages of drying. They are good, considering they have been painted by someone who barely reaches her hip. She turns once more, searching for that girl.

Hope pops up from the other side of her bed, a grin on her face. "It worked!"

Bonnie still has an incredulous look on her face as she inches closer to the source of all this. She can see various items scattered around Hope, including the shirt she had been wearing the night Klaus brought her to the Abattoir in the first place (so he hadn't burned it after all). She puts the pieces together and then looks to Hope. "What did you do?"

"I needed to talk to you," Hope explains and she has a look on her face, a mixture of guilt and fear that only a child can project. "You're not mad are you?"

She shakes her head quickly. She is still trying to wrap her head around all of this. "Am I really here?" She reaches down to skim her fingers over the bedspread. It feels soft to the touch but not quite real. She already knows her answer but she waits until Hope shakes her head to let out the breath she has been holding. This girl, this tiny little girl, has so much power in her that it is almost terrifying.

"I know you're mad at him," Hope begins. "And he's mad at you." She doesn't give any explanation as to why she knows this (Bonnie knows it is more complicated that she wants to think about at the moment; she has enough on her plate). She looks up at Bonnie with eyes that are wide and Bonnie can finally see her father in the girl. "You hate him."

"I don't," she says and the words surprise her more than they appear to Hope. She closes her eyes, hating that grief seems to be knitting them together. She doesn't want to be tethered to Klaus but yet, here is she, admitting that hate is not possible anymore. "It's complicated, Hope. There is a lot of history between your father and I...and we are not exactly…"

"...friends?" Hope finishes.

Bonnie nods, thinking that is a simple enough explanation. "I promise, Hope, that I am not going to hurt him…" She is well aware of the timing passing and she thinks she will say what Hope needs to hear.

Instead Hope shakes her head. "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Bonnie tilts her head, her eyebrows knitting together. Her confusion is evident in her voice. "Oh?"

"You think my dad is the biggest," Hope says and there is something in the way that she speaks, like she is trying her best to convey something in her head but isn't sure of the words to use. "But he's not…"

Bonnie feels free trickle into her system. She has been betting everything on this. She can't be wrong about it. It will cost her far too much (her life). "He's very strong, Hope." Is she trying to convince Klaus' daughter or herself?

"But he's not the biggest," she repeats and then she leans in to spill the secret. "You are too. You both are. You both are the biggest."