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Everything Bonnie knew about being a witch she learned by trial and error. Her powers were only beginning to develop when Sheila died. She could not have even fathomed where to begin looking for other witches that might have helped guide her. Nevertheless, Bonnie had grown into a formidable witch that had gone toe-to-toe with the Original Hybrid on several occasions. Therefore, losing her magic had been a devastating blow. Bonnie had been grateful for receiving a second chance at life, but she felt incomplete. The young woman was listless until she found an old box of grimoires hidden in the attic of her grandmother's home. She could practically feel the magic of her ancestors calling to her from the pages. In that moment, Bonnie had realized that her magic was still inside of her.
Her great-grandmother's grimoire drew her in like a moth to a flame. Amelia Bennett had been a powerful witch. That power was evident in the complicated spells written in her grimoire. However, Amelia had dedicated an entire section of the comprehensive book to making potions, elixirs, and healing salves. The section on potion making read more like a recipe book. The potions ranged from relatively mundane to the deliriously complex. The very first potion Bonnie made was meant to induce a peaceful night's sleep. Smelling the perfumed brew had transported the girl back to her childhood. Her favorite toy, Miss Cuddles, used to smell exactly the same way. Bonnie realized then that Sheila had made the potion to help her granddaughter sleep at night.
For months, Bonnie had methodically experimented with different potions and elixirs. Damon had been kind enough to procure the ingredients that were harder to find. Sometimes he was even her guinea pig because he had the useful ability of not dying. Making potions helped Bonnie feel closer to the magic walled off inside of her. It also brought her closer to the Bennett witches that came before her. At that point, she stopped feeling the urgency of accessing her magic. She believed that her magic would return eventually because it was an innate part of her. In the meantime, she decided to focus on the many facets of being a witch that she had long ignored in favor of survival.
Bonnie had never been more grateful for that decision than she was right now. She didn't know much about Travelers but they were powerful. She also knew that witches didn't trust them. A Traveler taking over Elena's body for weeks or possibly months was terrifying. Perhaps the only good news was that the doppelganger hadn't spent much time around their friends. It wasn't likely that the Traveler was trying to infiltrate their group. However, it also meant that Bonnie had no earthly idea what the Traveler possessing Elena was planning. Stabbing Elena with the knife would be the simplest solution. The knife would kill the passenger instantly and Elena would heal from the trauma. The downside was dozens of questions would go unanswered. Bonnie had learned from experience how dangerous that could be.
The plan was simple and only three people outside of Bonnie and Tyler knew about it. Damon, Stefan, and Matt were the ones they trusted with the secret. The whole Scooby Doo Gang agreed to meet at her house after they finished hashing out the Augustine problem. The S.O.S. text sent from Bonnie's phone had been three simple, but effective, words—Elijah called me. Tyler had chosen a message benign enough to prevent everyone from dropping everything immediately. Yet it had been foreboding enough to require everyone's attention. Elijah was usually reasonable but his connection to Klaus always made him a threat.
Tyler walked into the kitchen fully dressed. He had doused himself with enough cologne to mute his altered scent. Caroline and Elena were still baby vampires. Their senses weren't developed enough to smell beneath the overwhelming aroma. Damon and Stefan would be able to detect it immediately because they were much older and stronger. Fortunately, the two older vampires already knew the truth about Tyler and Bonnie.
He said, "I just talked to Jonas. He is about ten minutes away. How is the potion coming along?"
Bonnie stirred the red simmering liquid and then lowered the heat. She turned around and said, "It looks and smells perfect. I followed the recipe to the letter. I am confident that it will work as planned. The potion will completely immobilize Elena for at least five minutes. It could be longer than that because she is such a young vampire. Either way that is enough time to get her shackled down in my basement."
Tyler had analyzed every angle of their plan. He was worried that they would be blindsided by something. None of them knew very much about Travelers. He asked, "Will it work on the passenger inside of Elena, too? Travelers have magic, right?"
"The passenger shares the same weaknesses of the vessel it is possessing. He or she will be unable to move or even speak while under the potion's effect. The passenger won't be able to use whatever power he or she might possess."
The hybrid didn't feel reassured by Bonnie's response. He did not doubt her skill but they had a very small margin for error. He walked up to Bonnie and said, "I don't like that you will be alone with Elena, Bon."
Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck. "I know but it is the best option that we have. You can't be in the room with me because the potion could paralyze you, too. I promise that I am going to be safe."
Tyler pulled Bonnie closer as he brushed his lips against hers. He muttered, "I will rip Elena's heart out if she hurts you."
The girl sighed deeply because she understood his protectiveness. She felt the same way about him. Bonnie's instincts were running counter to what she knew to be right. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Tyler with an intensity she would not have been able to express with words alone.
Tyler growled against Bonnie's soft lips. In that moment, he wanted to ignore the outside world and reinforce his claim on her. However, he heard a car pull up in front of the house. Tyler knew that would be his cousin. He slowly broke the kiss and stared down into Bonnie's green eyes. "We are going to finish this later."
Bonnie had heard the car outside, too. She smirked at her mate and nodded. "Yes, we will. The potion is finished and I need to cool it down. You should go answer the door."
Tyler pecked her lips once more before walking to the entryway. He opened the door just as Jonas was about to knock. He motioned for his cousin to come inside.
Jonas had the ornate box tucked underneath his arm as he entered the house. He closed the door and handed the box to his younger cousin.
"Thank you for helping me tonight," Tyler said.
Jonas shook his head and said, "If the alpha calls, we answer. No questions asked. No explanations needed."
He said, "Yeah but this wasn't exactly pack business. I appreciate what all of you did. I didn't realize that I was putting you in danger at the time."
"A threat to the alpha and his mate is a threat to all of us. I know that you are cautious because of what happened to your first pack. I don't blame you. What is it they say? Heavy is the head that wears the crown."
"Yeah," Tyler said with a wry snort.
Jonas said, "My grandfather had a picture of Andrew Carnegie on his wall. There was a quote at the bottom of the picture and he drilled it into my head over the years."
Tyler was intrigued to hear a story about his late great-uncle. Ruby had told him a great deal about her father. "What was the quote?"
"No one person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit. I know that you think that protecting the pack is the right thing to do but we are only as strong as our alpha is. Let us help you with whatever darkness is headed your way."
He took a deep breath and smiled. "You practiced that speech on your way over here. Didn't you?"
Jonas chuckled. "I might have run it through once or twice. Fi thought the Andrew Carnegie quote was the highlight."
Tyler smiled wryly. "I could actually use some help tonight. What do you know about Travelers?"
"They are self-righteous dicks but dangerous. The good news is they never stay in one place for too long," he answered immediately. "Is that what you are dealing with here?"
He nodded. "We think that a Traveler has possessed a friend of ours. Bonnie and I have invited her over here. We are going to trap her and try to get some information from the passenger inside of her. I could use a little backup just in case this whole thing goes sideways."
Jonas said, "Fiona, Maddox, and I are here for whatever you need. Should we call a couple more people to lend a hand?"
Tyler looked toward the kitchen where he could hear Bonnie humming. He turned back to face Jonas once more and shook his head. "No, the three of you will be more than enough. We will have a couple vampires in here that can help with Elena. I am more concerned about other Travelers that might be lurking in the shadows."
"I got it. We will park the car a couple blocks over and then choose spots where we can stay out of sight," he said.
"Thank you," he said.
"Eventually you are going to get used to having people that you can count on when the going gets tough." He clapped the younger man on his back. "Call if you need us in here."
Tyler nodded. "I will." He watched Jonas walk out of the house and then locked the door behind him.
He returned to the kitchen where Bonnie was using a funnel to pour the potion into three cylindrical bottles made of dark blue glass.
He said, "I am guessing that you overheard my conversation with Jonas."
The green-eyed girl nodded. "I am glad that you accepted your pack's help. I don't think that we will need them but Jonas was right about delegating. You can't shoulder all of the responsibility alone. Isn't that why you made Ruby and Gabe your betas?"
Tyler huffed out a sigh but he smiled at her. "Yes, I knew that I wasn't ready to be an alpha without some guidance."
"I am not going to let anything happen to your pack, Ty," she promised.
He felt the sincerity of Bonnie's promise through their bond. He said, "They are your pack, too. As my mate, we will lead them together. I know that we haven't really had the opportunity to talk about your thoughts on that."
Bonnie said, "We haven't had an opportunity to talk about much but I am not running from any of this. I am not running from you."
Tyler relaxed upon hearing her reply. It erased the few doubts that were still lingering in his mind. He placed the box on the island and flipped open the top. Tyler pulled out the knife and set it aside. He then took out a small black book. He flipped through the pages and frowned at the unfamiliar language. "I am going to go out on the limb and assume that this is written in Bulgarian."
Bonnie glanced at the text written using the Cyrillic alphabet. She nodded. "I would say that is a safe bet. I don't know what level of success we will have trying to translate that into English."
"Do you think either one of the Salvatores can read Bulgarian? You'd think that with them being alive for so long that they would have picked up a foreign language or two," he said.
She looked thoughtful as she added rubber corks to the three bottles. "Damon is fluent in three languages. He can order booze and naked women in about four more. Unfortunately, none of those languages is Bulgarian to my knowledge. I can't say what Stefan might know."
Tyler rooted around inside the box and stopped when he came across pictures. "Damn…"
"What?" Bonnie asked. She tried to peer into the box to see what had caught Tyler's attention.
He handed Bonnie a picture of Nadia Petrova. "There are at least four more pictures of her in here. Can you think of a reason that Elena would have pictures of Nadia?"
Her green eyes darkened as she moved closer to inspect the other pictures. Bonnie said, "Nope. Katherine on the other hand…"
"But you saw Katherine when she died, right?" he asked.
Bonnie nodded and slowly sat down on a barstool. She stared at the pictures and tried to make sense of the situation. "I saw her for a moment but she didn't pass through me. I was still new to being the anchor. I didn't think anything of it at the time. If this means what we think it means…"
"Katherine has been possessing Elena for months," he finished.
She licked her lips nervously. "Damon and Elena's break up certainly makes more sense now. Katherine loves crushing Damon. She gets a kick out of torturing him. As if it isn't enough that she pretended to be locked in tomb for over 100 years. She is such a bitch."
Tyler lifted an eyebrow at the venom in her voice.
"What?" she asked. "She possessed one of my friend's and tried to send my other friend into a blood fueled killing spree."
"Just remember that if you kick her ass, you are actually kicking Elena's ass," he said.
Bonnie huffed. "Don't care. I am still punching her at least once because she deserves it. Elena is a vampire…she'll heal fast."
He chuckled softly. "Whatever you say, Bon."
Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "What are we going to do about Damon? He is going to lose it when realizes that Katherine has been playing him this whole time."
The hybrid glanced at the bottles of potion sitting on the counter.
Bonnie followed his gaze and quickly shook her head. "No, I can't do that to Damon."
"I thought you tested this potion out on him," he said.
"I did. It worked on him for about five minutes. I guess I meant to say that I wouldn't do that to him. He hasn't done anything wrong and I won't treat him as if he has."
"And if he loses his shit? Because I think most people would in this situation. You add in Damon and Katherine's history and this could get ugly quickly."
Bonnie said, "I'll talk him down."
Tyler looked concerned by that idea. "Bon…"
"Come on, Ty. You know that Damon isn't going to hurt me. He didn't even try the night that Elena broke up with him. Besides, I was able to talk him down when he was ready to rip Matt apart. I can get through to him before he does anything stupid."
It occurred to Tyler that perhaps that had been Katherine's plan from the moment she started pursuing Matt. She was counting on Damon doing something violent and reckless when he found out about the fling. If Damon had killed Matt, it would have alienated him from the rest of the group. Stefan would have forgiven him eventually because there are brothers but no one else would have. He groaned because he didn't feel like dealing with this. "Just make sure that you punch her twice."
"Consider it done," she replied with a grin.
"On the bright side, this might not go any further than Katherine being a total bitch."
Bonnie huffed out a shocked laugh. "Ty…"
"I am serious. If it is really Katherine that is possessing Elena, we can just stab her and be done finally. It is a helluva lot better than a possible nefarious plot by unknown Travelers."
She sighed. "I guess you do have a point. Maybe the Augustine threat will turn out to be a smoke screen. I am sure Katherine has been looking for a way to get her claws into Stefan again. Manufacturing a threat to everyone is a solid plot."
Tyler nodded. "It definitely sounds devious enough for Katherine to do it. Although, her daughter will be a problem once she realizes that we have killed her mother."
"Fun times," she grumbled. She felt her phone vibrate from inside her back pocket.
Tyler's phone started vibrating at nearly the same time.
Bonnie pulled out her phone and read a text message from Damon. "They're about to leave the restaurant."
He nodded and said, "I got the same message from Matt. Are you ready for this?"
She said, "I am as ready as I can be. I am going to drown in guilt later."
Tyler kissed her forehead. "This isn't your fault. No one realized that Elena was possessed. We are all at fault here."
"I just remember how much it sucked when no realized that I was dead. It hurt. It made me feel expendable," she confessed.
"You're not expendable and neither is Elena."
Bonnie nodded as she grabbed the bottles that were still warm to the touch. She handed one to Tyler and said, "Give this to Matt when he gets here. He's my backup plan since he's the only other non-vampire."
They had both summarily dismissed the idea of including Jeremy. The high school student hadn't been very reliable lately.
Tyler tucked the vial into his pants' pocket. He said, "Okay."
Bonnie said, "I am going to go put the other bottle in its hiding place. Just in case Elena doesn't cooperate with Plan A."
He returned all the items to the box and then handed it to Bonnie. "You should probably put that some place safe, too."
"I know just the place," she replied.
Tyler walked into the living room and collected the books stacked on the coffee table. It took some work but he found space for them on the already crowded bookcase. Tyler hoped that they could avoid revealing their newly minted relationship status to their friends. This night would be problematic enough without any extra drama. Moreover, he was worried about how Bonnie would cope with the situation. She was compartmentalizing her guilt because saving Elena took precedent. He could feel the range of emotions that Bonnie was trying to hide from him. She was slowly starting to understand how the bond between them worked.
He moved over to the bay window and looked out at the street. He wondered what hiding spots his pack had taken around the house. However, he trusted them to be nearby if necessary.
Bonnie walked into the living room.
"All set?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yep."
Tyler said, "Come here."
Bonnie joined him at the window. She eagerly allowed herself to be enveloped in his strong arms. She buried her face against his broad chest and inhaled deeply. Tyler's scent calmed her down. She could smell it even beneath the incredible amount of cologne he was wearing.
Tyler slid his hand up Bonnie's shirt. He gently ranked his blunt nails against her skin.
Bonnie's eyes fluttered closed as the remaining tension bled out of her body. She was grateful that Tyler seemed to know what she needed.
The couple maintained that position until they heard cars arriving outside.
Bonnie reluctantly extricated herself from Tyler's embrace.
He kissed her forehead and lightly patted her on the butt. "You've got this, Bon."
Bonnie squared her shoulders and headed towards the door when she heard someone knocking. She walked into the entryway and smiled upon seeing Damon standing on the porch. Bonnie opened the door. "Hey."
The vampire didn't know exactly what was happening. He only knew that Bonnie and Tyler were suspicious of Elena. However, he was glad to see his friend in person after four long days. Text messages just didn't do their friendship justice. He resisted the urge to hug her. Damon had been warned in advance that touching Bonnie was a bad idea. While he wouldn't mind seeing the mutt wolf out, he wasn't in the mood to die from a werewolf's bite. He could only imagine the untoward things Stefan would have to do to convince Klaus to save him this time. "Hey," he replied.
The moment was interrupted as everyone else began to walk into the house.
She said, "Come in, everyone. Thank you for coming."
Caroline hugged Bonnie but wrinkled her nose at the strong perfume the girl was wearing. "I am so happy that you are feeling better, Bon! Damon said that you got mono from that guy you met at the party."
Bonnie's eyebrows nearly shot up to her hairline. She shot a withering glare at Damon but he only smirked in return. She should have known that Damon would amuse himself some way. "It turns out it was just a 72 hour bug. I am feeling much better now."
"Well, I still want to hear all about the guy you met," Caroline said with a grin.
Bonnie was hit with another pang of guilt. She was certain that Caroline wouldn't be happy when she learned the truth. She was also very aware of Jeremy scowling in her direction. She said, "Let's all go to the living room. Tyler made it here first."
Jeremy scowled at his ex-girlfriend. He couldn't believe that Bonnie had a one-night stand with some loser she met at Damon's party. She had also been ignoring his calls and texts all week. "I thought he was out of town."
Tyler was standing up when they entered the living room. "I was but I made it back tonight. I got Bon's message and figured I would stop here first."
Matt walked over to his friend and hugged him. "Glad to have you back home, man."
The hybrid discreetly slipped a vial of the potion into Matt's hand. He smiled. "It's good to be back."
Bonnie said, "I did some stress baking waiting on you guys to get here. I baked way too many loaves of chocolate banana nut bread. Does anybody want to try out my new recipe with some coffee?"
Her question was greeted by a chorus of 'yes'.
Damon added, "I'll take a shot of bourbon in my coffee. I know you've got some here, witchy."
Bonnie rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. She looked at Elena. "Could you give me a hand?"
The doppelganger was shocked that Bonnie was asking for her help. She nodded "Sure, Bon."
The two girls walked into the kitchen. Bonnie asked, "Can grab some coffee cups from that cabinet right there?"
Elena turned around and pulled down enough cups for the group. She successfully balanced and carried the cups to the island. "The banana nut bread smells good, Bon."
Bonnie waited until the cups were safely placed on the counter, they belonged to her grandmother after all, before she punched Elena hard enough to send her flying backwards.
Elena was shocked by the sudden assault but also by the power of the punch. Her eyes widened as Bonnie crossed the kitchen seemingly in the blink of an eye. The witch punched her harder the second time. She gasped, "Bonnie…"
Bonnie threw the bottle onto the ground hard enough to shatter the glass. The liquid began to turn into a reddish gas that wrapped around Elena and incapacitated her. The green eyed girl glared at her. "Give it up, Katherine."
The doppelganger glared when she realized that she had been discovered. Just a week ago, she thought that the Scooby Doo Gang might never detect her ruse. She tried to stand. If she could run then there was still hope. However, she couldn't even feel her limbs now. The potion the witch had used was obviously fast acting.
Bonnie watched as Katherine's fingers twitched uselessly. "You love taunting Damon for wasting over a century of his life waiting for you. But you are the one that is pathetic, Katherine. You should have run as far away from Mystic Falls as you possibly could after taking control of Elena's body. I mean you are good at running and hiding because of the centuries you spent evading Klaus. We might have never found you. Instead, you stuck around trying to make Stefan fall in love with you. He was never going to love you, Katherine. You are a horrible person that uses and discards people like tissues. Your soul is as black as coal. There isn't a single redeemable thing about you. Who would ever willingly love you once they know the real you? The answer is no one."
The girl's words cut deeply.
Damon walked into the kitchen. He had heard everything. He stared at Elena's body in silence. He couldn't even muster shock at the situation. This seemed exactly like something that his ex-girlfriend would do to torture him.
Bonnie reached down and snapped Elena/Katherine's neck. Then she turned and walked over to Damon. More than anything she wanted to hug her friend because he looked absolutely wrecked. "I'm sorry, Damon."
He stared at Elena/Katherine for a few seconds as if in a trance. He snapped out of it and said, "I've got to get out of here."
Bonnie zipped in front of Damon to stop him from leaving. "No. I am not going to let you run away."
He smiled at her. "I don't plan to go on a killing spree, Bon-Bon. I just need some air."
The sadness in Damon's blue eyes tugged at Bonnie's soul. She was seconds away from crying the tears that he wouldn't dare shed.
Tyler appeared in the doorway. "Hug him already…"
Bonnie wrapped her arms around Damon and squeezed him tight.
The hybrid ignored the itch at the back of his head that urged him to rip out Damon's throat for touching Bonnie. His instincts were at odds. Part of him wanted him to kill the potential romantic rival but the other part knew that his mate was hurting for her friend. The fact that he was able to resist the urge meant that Bonnie's heat had truly ended. He picked up Elena/Katherine and hefted her over his shoulder. Then Tyler carried her down to the basement.