Author's Note: So, I don't recall the details of Finn's death in Season 03 of TVD other than that Matt was the one who acted as bait and staked him, and that Sage and her progeny died when they came to kill the Mystic Falls Gang a few hours later. Therefore, I have made stuff up regarding Finn's death and the events that followed. I hope you all don't mind because my version fits in better with this overall story.

Chapter 014

An Invitation, Part One

Wednesday, January 19, 2011, about 2:20 p.m.

Mystic Falls High School

Five days after Bonnie showed Kol her premonition, Rebekah is hurrying outside of school at the end of the day to meet Bonnie so that Bonnie can drive them both home because there is no Cheer Practice today and she drove them to school this morning.

When we get closer to my granddaughter, Rebekah pulls up short and stops about 50 feet away because Bonnie's 'old' friends are stomping towards her obviously ready for a fight.

Rebekah doesn't want to interfere because she knows Elena well enough by now to know that she would make a big deal of her standing beside Bonnie to show my grandbaby her silent support so instead, Rebekah stands and watches from her spot off to the side.

She sighs and wishes Bonnie could put this off a little longer, but we both know she needs to deal with them sooner rather than later, so Rebekah silently says a quick prayer, 'Please, God, don't let this end badly for Bonnie.'

For her part Bonnie also realizes that she needs to deal with Stefan and Elena, so she sucks it up, straightens her back, and holds her head up high while she waits for them to stop in front of her.

They stop a few feet away from her, and Elena says, "Bon, we need to talk."

Bonnie sighs again but tells her, "Okay, so talk, but make it fast because I'm actually waiting for someone."

Elena scowls and with a decided attitude asks, "You mean Rebekah? What's up with you and her? Suddenly she's your new best friend. I mean you've even been eating with her at lunch and just hanging out. Your mom and dad said you're hardly ever home, and I've seen your car parked in the Mikaelson's driveway most days."

She what? Bonnie asks the question I'd ask, "How did you see my car unless you drove there specifically to see if I was there because they live on the outskirts of town and not near anywhere you usually go."

Elena frowns and tells her, "So not the point Bonnie. They're brainwashing you, and you're letting them do it."

Um, the fact that she's stalking her former best friend should be the point, however, brainwashing? That's what she's going with? That crap and forced compulsion don't work on witches anyway, but my granddaughter doesn't bother telling them that because I know she's told them all a million times already.

Still, I do frown before Bonnie also frowns and tells Elena, "They're not brainwashing me. I just finally took my head out of my ass and stopped relying on everyone else to form my opinions for me."

I hold in my laughter at that statement, took her head out of her ass indeed. Bonnie's not done though so I focus on her words while she tells her ex-friend, "Look, I get that you don't like the Mikaelsons, and that's your prerogative. However, if you stop and think about it only Nik has attacked any of us unprovoked, so the only one any of us should have issues with is Nik."

She crosses her arms over her chest and says, "Now I decided to give him a second chance to prove himself worthy of my not trying to kill him, and so far, he's not made me regret the decision to give him that opportunity. The rest, however, haven't done anything to us that we didn't deserve or wasn't absolutely necessary for their continued survival, so I see no problem getting to know the people they actually are instead of just assuming they're monsters."

Elena huffs and asks, "Do you hear yourself? They've tried to kill us, and Klaus is Nik now?"

Ignoring her question about what she calls Niklaus, Bonnie also ignores the glare Elena is giving her and tells her, "Nik is the only one who actively tried to kill any of us. Well, that is except for Beks, but her trying to kill you the first time was justified because you literally stabbed her in the back and killed her after pretending to be her friend, and the second time was the only way to save all vampires everywhere."

Elena huffs again and asks, "Well what about Kol, he compelled Damon to kill Jer and then settled for chopping off Jer's arms."

Bonnie nods and tells the ever-petulant Elena, "I know. I was there, and for the record, if you hadn't been so gung-ho about getting the bloody cure, Kol would have left both of you alone, but he wasn't willing to risk you raising Silas and ending the world just so you could be human again."

Elena's lip quivers before she says, "You know I never wanted to be a vampire, and I have Rebekah to thank for my being one."

Sadly, she really believes that because I see through Rebekah's eyes that she's still glowing green. In fact, the green glow hasn't left her since she started talking, so she truly feels that Bonnie is making the biggest mistake of her life.

Still, my granddaughter shakes her head, "No you have Esther, Meredith, and Stefan to thank for you being a vampire. The only way to stop Ric from killing all vampires everywhere, including your ex-boyfriend and your current boyfriend not to mention Care, was to kill him, and the only way to do that was to kill you. If Beks had gotten her way, you would have stayed dead, but Meredith saw fit to inject you with vampire blood without asking you for permission. Then Stefan was stupid or foolish enough to listen to you when you told him to save Matt first."

Nothing my very smart grandbaby just said is untrue, but Rebekah finds herself once again impressed by Bonnie. She's looking beyond The Original Family's actions to see the deeper reason, and she's given them all a second chance to prove themselves to her, for which Rebekah will be eternally grateful.

Rebekah smirks when Bonnie turns and looks at Stefan before asking, "Who lets the girl they supposedly love die so that they can save her friend first? I mean really, who does that? Damon would have let Matt die, and he freely admits that, and if it had been him who found them, Elena would still be human."

She turns back to Elena and finishes by telling her, "Anyway, it's Esther, Meredith, and Stefan you really should be turning your anger on. And face it, Elena, you may not have wanted to become a vampire, I get that, and I sympathize, but you are a vampire now, and there is no changing that, so you should just work on accepting it instead of wishing it wasn't true. No amount of wishing will change it."

Elena puts her hands on her hips and sneers before she tells Bonnie, "I could change it if we found The Cure."

Stubborn, pigheaded, annoying brat that she is she's not listening to a word my granddaughter has said since the night she showed up at the Gilbert's house and stopped Elena from making the biggest mistake of all their lives.

Still, the girl used to be Bonnie's best friend, so she tries reaching her again, "Ugh, hello, getting The Cure would wake Silas and cause the end of the world, so you'd be human for like ten minutes, and then you and everyone else would be dead. Besides my premonition showed that a hunter would use The Cure for its intended purpose and kill Silas with it, so you would have still been a vampire and everyone you love would have died. Are you really willing to sacrifice everyone you claim to love just for a small chance at being human again? If you are, then you're not the girl I thought you were, now if you'll excuse me, I see Beks, and we have plans."

When Bonnie begins walking past Elena her hand shoots out and grabs Bonnie's arm. My baby girl looks down at Elena's hand squeezing her arm while her eyes narrow due to the pain shooting from where Elena's hand is gripping her, radiating up and down her arm.

I can tell from where I'm standing that if Elena squeezes much harder, she's going to snap Bonnie's bone in two, so my grandbaby looks up at her former friend's scowling face and tells her, "You're hurting me, Elena. Remove your hand from my arm, or I will protect myself and hurt you."

Thankfully Caroline steps in and says, "Let her go, Elena."

Elena jumps back and releases her arm faster than Bonnie can see with her human eyes as if burned by a hot stove. She reacted instinctively without giving thought to the fact that they're at school and moving at vampire speed where all the students can see is not the best idea.

Elena's brown eyes are wide while she looks at Bonnie hard for a second or two before she steps back more at a human pace and says, "Fine, but don't come running to us when you discover that they're really the monsters we know them to be."

Bonnie sighs and tells her, "Fine, if I'm wrong, I won't come running to you."

Stefan chooses that moment to butt in, "You can't trust them, Bonnie. My experiences with them in the 20's prove that. They're vicious vampires who reveled in my being a ripper."

That's bullshit, and he's glowing yellow, so he's not entirely convinced and is bending the truth to suit his needs.

My granddaughter frowns and looks at him standing between her and Rebekah before she tells him, "So did you, but you claim you've changed your ways, so we trust you and let you into our lives. If you can change your ways, so can they, and you can't have it both ways Stefan, either not all vampires are evil, or they all are, but you don't get to pick and choose who gets the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of my friendship."

She pauses, then when he looks to be getting ready to argue the point, Bonnie beats him to the punch and says, "Fact of the matter is, they've hurt me a whole heck of a lot less than you, Damon, and Elena have, so don't throw stones in a glass house or you might shatter the house. Now kindly get out of my way before I move you myself."

While Stefan moves out of her way, Elena says, "They're just using you for your magick, Bonnie. That's the only reason they're acting like they're your friends."

Okay, so she doesn't know that the originals have their own magick, but still, her statement makes little to no sense, so Bonnie turns back and looks at her with wide eyes then she asks, "Seriously?"

She pauses waiting for a response, but when none is forthcoming, and Elena just scowls at her, Bonnie tells her, "You know, I've done countless spells for all of you including those rings you and Caroline are wearing. I've also done dark spells to help you all even causing Grams to be punished because I put you above all else and did the dark spell anyway despite Grams' warnings. On the other hand, the only original who has asked me to do a spell for him is Nik, and the first time he wanted me to undo the linking spell to protect himself and his siblings, which wouldn't have been necessary if we weren't trying to kill them. Then the second time he just wanted to stay alive and then have me put him back into his own body, so if we're keeping a tally, you all are the ones who use me for my magick more than they do."

She crosses her arms over her chest again and says, "I mean think about it, they're The Freaking Originals. If they need a witch, they can easily find one to do whatever they want. In fact, according to other witches I've spoken to, 99.99% of witches the world over would bend over backward to help the originals without any threats of violence from either side. Therefore, the Mikaelsons have no need to pretend to be my friend just so I will do magick for them, which for the record I've only done a single spell for any of them since we made our truce, and that was last Friday after I offered to do it without any prompting. Now, if you're done throwing around baseless, fact-less accusations, 'Bekah finally finished reading The Twilight Saga, and I promised to watch the first movie with her today."

Bonnie walks away from her old friends without bothering to look back at them while they scowl at her back. Holding her head up high she fights the tears that she wants to keep at bay until she can get in the car and drive away, so her 'friends' won't know they upset her so much.

When Bonnie reaches her, Rebekah takes one look at her eyes getting ready to overflow with tears and sticks out her hand saying, "Give me your keys Bon, you're in no state to drive."

She just nods and gives her friend the keys while they walk to her car. About halfway there Bonnie whispers, "Thank you for not getting involved in that whole scene."

Rebekah nods and says just as quietly, "I was fairly certain my sticking my nose in your business would only make matters worse though I did spend the whole time imagining ripping their heads off every time they said something mean or untrue. The fact is, you are one of the most sensible, reliable, honest, and dependable people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. It amazes me that they don't seem to realize that you have a good head on your shoulders. Except for that predator, the professor, you can and have been perfectly capable of making or forming healthy decisions and opinions about people and situations. Let's face it, in the long run, you made the right choice where he was concerned, too, it just took you a little longer to actually listen to your perfectly healthy instincts. Anyway, thank you for giving us a chance even though it appears to be costing you your friendships with the others."

It may very well be ruining my granddaughter's friendships with her childhood friends, or friend at least, but my baby girl thinks, 'What I'm gaining from my relationships with the Mikaelsons is worth so much more. They respect me and value my opinion in ways no one else, except Jeremy and maybe Damon, despite his sarcastic veneer, ever has. They listen when I just need to vent, and they only offer advice if I ask for it. They seem to genuinely enjoy just hanging out with me, and none of us absolutely need to fill the silence if we don't want to.'

She's genuinely comfortable with The Original Family in ways I don't think she ever has been with anyone else except maybe Jeremy and Caroline. Unlike Caroline, the Mikaelsons understand the meaning of the word discretion, so my grandbaby smiles slightly and tells Rebekah, "First, Jer is still cool and supporting me though he encourages me to be cautious. Kol basically does the same thing, and they actually pretty much go about it the same way, too."

My grandbaby glances at Rebekah, who nods so Bonnie tells her, "Second, did you notice that Caroline didn't say a word throughout that whole scene except to defend me when Elena was squeezing my arm? I know her well enough to know that means she doesn't agree with anything they said, or she would have made her agreement known and loudly at that. Plus, she and Jer wouldn't have spent the holidays at your house if they agreed with anything Elena and Stefan are peddling."

She grins even though her eyes are still filling with tears and tells Rebekah, "Besides, when I'm not at your house, I'm usually at hers. Other than the holiday, when she and Jer hung out with your family and me, I've hung out with her or talked to her on the phone just about every night since she apologized for spilling my secrets to Nik and Tyler. She's had ample opportunity to lecture me about the wrong turn I'm taking, and she hasn't even hinted that she feels that way."

Bonnie glances at Rebekah again and tells her, "Make no mistake, she doesn't have a shy bone in her body when it comes to expressing her opinions, so I'd know if she thought I was making stupid choices or taking unnecessary risks. She also wouldn't have come over to your house for Christmas or New Year's Eve if she thought you were a threat to us."

Rebekah smiles and nods again so Bonnie shrugs and says, "I expect as soon as she gets away from Elena and Stefan she'll call and tell me that she still thinks I should be careful and cautious but that she supports my decisions, or at least I hope so anyway."

Rebekah smiles softly while they get into the car and she drives them towards her house.

Once she's safely in the vehicle, Bonnie lets the tears flow, and she smiles slightly through her tears when Rebekah pulls into the cemetery, parks the car, and then just sits letting her cry it all out. She reaches over and holds Bonnie's hand, and I know my grandbaby appreciates the silent support holding her hand conveys.

She's grateful, though, that Rebekah doesn't offer meaningless platitudes because losing your childhood best friend sucks any way you look at it. Nothing the blonde says is going to change that, and Rebekah not only knows that but she understands that Bonnie doesn't want pretty lies but rather the ugly truth, no matter how painful that truth might be.

When Bonnie finally calms down Rebekah hands her a tissue from the box in the backseat and picks up Bonnie's purse from the floor and hands it to her. She smiles gently and tells my baby girl, "I really need to figure out why that make-up spell I'm working on still comes out so heavy because this is a classic example of a girl needing not to have runny make-up all over her tear-streaked face."

My granddaughter giggles while she takes her purse from her before Rebekah says, "You better clean your face, or Kol will take one look at you and know you've been crying, and I don't even want to think about what he would be willing to do to avenge you even if you are physically unhurt."

She brushes her hand against the spot where she can smell Bonnie's jasmine scented blood pooling just below the surface of her skin on her upper arm despite Bonnie wearing a jacket and says, "Well, mostly anyhow."

Bonnie nods then she flips down the visor and looks in the mirror, and she whispers, "Yikes my face really is a mess."

Rebekah giggles and nods because her mascara is running all over her face and her foundation has noticeable track marks where her tears ran down her cheeks. The only part of her face that's not completely messed up is her lips, so Bonnie uses a makeup remover wipe she takes out of her purse and removes all her makeup before putting her mascara and lip gloss back on, but she doesn't bother with the rest.

When she's finished she turns and looks at Rebekah, so the older girl smiles and says, "Perfect, now when we get home, stay down in the den with me for the length of the movie, and if we're lucky, the scent of your tears will drift away enough that Kol won't notice it."

Honestly, I think that's wishful thinking because his senses are only second to Niklaus' hybrid senses and even then, it's a near thing, but my baby girl nods, willing to try. Rebekah smiles back, and then she pulls out of the cemetery and heads to her house.

When they get there, they spend two hours watching Twilight. Although she's seen it a million times with Caroline, Bonnie seems to still have fun because Rebekah finds the whole thing hilarious. She spends the entire movie telling Bonnie how unrealistic everything is and pretty much making her laugh the whole time, especially with her disparaging comments about the Cullen's chosen diet.

When the credits roll Rebekah laughs and tells my granddaughter, "Seriously Bonnie, we had to eat bunnies and deer once about 950 years ago while we played cat and mouse with Mikael. Never again. Completely ignoring that it tastes disgusting and incredibly bitter, I could feel the fur in my teeth for over a week afterward. No matter how many times I cleaned my teeth, the feeling would not go away. Let me tell you it is not a pleasant sensation at all. In fact, I think the only sensation that might be worse is burning up in the sun."

Frowning Bonnie asks, "Have you actually burned up in the sun?"

Rebekah frowns back and tells her, "Right after we finished the transition I tried to go outside into the daylight. It took a minute for me to notice, and then all I could feel was the pain. I still don't think I've ever moved as fast as I did at that moment when I ran back into our hut. So, I can honestly say death by the sun is incredibly painful and it takes longer than you would think because I watched other vampires die that way when we met The Original Five. It could take up to ten whole minutes for one of them to finally die and unlike most popular TV shows or movies, Twilight notwithstanding, they don't turn into a pile of dust. They're just a corpse burnt beyond any recognition, and I think a medical examiner today would be hard pressed to prove the vampire wasn't the victim of a fire or explosion."

Bonnie's eyes are wide when she mouths the word, 'Wow,' and clearly wonders what she should say to that. She sits for a minute then she smiles and chooses good humor mixed with blunt honesty before she tells Rebekah, "Well I for one am incredibly grateful you managed to move out of the sunlight fast enough to prevent you from dying."

Rebekah frowns and says, "The older a vampire is, the faster they burn. I've personally watched while two of my brothers took off their rings at various points while out in the sun, so I know that they immediately caught fire and that due to there being a lot of fuel present they literally acted as the fuse for an explosion. It's a favorite clean-up solution of Elijah's. I think he and Kol both use the pain they feel when they do that as their form of penance for whatever sins they've just committed and covered up. Anyway, the point is, even though it hurts like you wouldn't believe, it won't kill my siblings or me. Nothing but the White Oak Stake can actually kill us, but you already knew that."

Still frowning Bonnie reaches out and places her hand over Rebekah's on her knee and tells her, "That reminds me, I wanted to apologize for my role in Finn's death. I know he was trying to kill you guys, but he was still your brother, and I know this doesn't take away or change what we did, but I am sorry that our actions caused you and your brothers' pain."

Rebekah smiles because she knows far more about Bonnie's involvement in Finn's death or the lack thereof than my grandbaby knows, so she says, "Thank you. Although I heard enough of you yelling at your friends right after it happened to know that that was another instance of them not consulting you first and you loudly disapproving when they finally told you what they had done. So, I know it wasn't really your fault."

Bonnie's wide hazel eyes again clearly say, 'Wait, she heard that?' So, Rebekah just nods and tells her, "Nik, Elijah, and I came to kill all of you. We heard enough to know that you and Caroline were not only not present when it happened but completely in the dark about the plan. We also heard that you both strongly disagreed with their decision and that you both figured they had signed all of your death warrants. Really, they had until we saw how upset you and Caroline were over our brother's death."

Bonnie opens her mouth though she appears not to know what to say, so Rebekah saves her from having to say anything when she holds up her hand and tells her, "I know that Matt acted as bait and induced Finn into attacking him. I also know that Matt was wholly aware that he was actually being used as bait. So, I blame Elena and Stefan, who came up with the plan, and Matt, who carried the plan out, as well as Damon and my brother's annoying hybrid, who both also assisted with the plan. I don't actually blame Jeremy, because he was in Colorado with Kol at the time and completely oblivious, or you and Caroline because none of you were actual participants in Finn's death or even aware that he was actually in any danger."

Bonnie nods but then she takes a deep breath and asks a question she thinks she might not want to know the answer to, "Um, not that I'm complaining, because, really I'm not, but why didn't you kill those who were responsible. I mean not killing Caroline, Jer and me makes sense because I now know you knew more than we all thought you did, but why did you spare the others. You were all well within your rights to avenge Finn's death."

Rebekah nods and flips her hand in Bonnie's before she squeezes her hand in her own. After a minute of just holding hands, Rebekah tells her, "Two reasons, sort of, one, Finn was, due to Esther's compulsion, trying to kill us, and your friends killing him prevented him from being successful. None of us would have been able to bring ourselves to kill him, so your friends really did us a favor. Though the part of us that still loved him despite his supposed betrayal would have happily killed your friends. We knew it would upset Caroline, Jeremy, and you, though, and even at that point Nik and Kol were smitten with both of you. Plus, Kol by that point, and still to this day, considers Jeremy to be his friend so they would not have done something that would harm you three emotionally such as killing your best friends or only surviving family if they could help it. The only reason Kol made a move against Jeremy six weeks ago was the genuine threat of Silas rising. Even then he set out to cut off your friend's arms instead of outright killing him not just for fear of The Hunter's Curse but also because he didn't actually want Jeremy dead."

Bonnie nods and then jumps when the DVD player pops the DVD tray out of itself. Rebekah laughs at her, and then she asks, "Can we watch the second one later?"

My grandbaby smiles and nods, so Rebekah says, "Okay, then go say hello to Kol because I'm sure he's been waiting to see you all day. I'll come and get you later for us to watch New Moon."

Bonnie nods again and gets up before walking up the stairs and down the hallways towards Kol's room.

Bonnie knocks on Kol's bedroom door, but she doesn't hear a response, so she slowly opens the door and sticks her head inside the room before she calls out, "Kol? Are you here? Can I come in?"

His voice carries from his study when he raises it slightly and tells her, "Come in, Darling."

She smiles and breathes a sigh of relief before she walks into his bedroom and over to the door of his study where he's bent over several books that he's been reading while he waited for his sister and Bonnie to finish watching their movie.

He looks like he's deeply engrossed in working on something, so she thinks, 'Maybe I should just say hi and then leave him be so he can finish whatever he's working on.'

He jots a last note down in his grimoire and then looks up and over at her standing in the doorway. She smiles when he pauses and looks her over. She gets a thrill when his eyes rove over her, and his evident appreciation shines brightly in his eyes.

She's never doubted that he thinks she's pretty. It always fills her with this emotion she hasn't been able to name when his eyes travel over her body, and he smiles like he is right now. His smile and his eyes tell her that he's always thought that her natural beauty is even more stunning than the beauty she shows the world with her make-up on.

That is still true now that he's looking at her with most of her make-up missing. She tenses, though, waiting for him to question why she's not wearing her usual make-up because he knows her and her habits well enough to know that she wouldn't have gone to school with only mascara and lip gloss on. She knows the fact that she has no foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, or blush on is significant to him and adds to his curiosity.

He frowns and asks what I know has been bothering him since she walked into his house and the scent of her tears, however faint it might have been, reached him while she was still downstairs, "Little Bella, you've been crying, what happened?"

Her eyes widen, and she had hoped the fact that she hadn't cried in a little under three hours would keep him from knowing. She even made sure not to cry while in the house, so he wouldn't worry. Still, she sniffles while she shuffles her feet and looks at the ground.

He heard her entire time with Rebekah, so he knows nothing happened here between the two of them throughout the movie, just the opposite, in fact. Still, he asks, "Did Rebekah…?"

Bonnie quickly shakes her head, and he sighs in relief, though that also tells him that he's not going to like what she says next because there are only a handful of other people besides his family members who would have enough access to her to cause her to cry.

Still, he does a decent job of schooling his features hiding his impending upset before she tells him, "It wasn't her, it was my other friends. They ambushed me and said that you and your family are brainwashing me. I'm actually surprised Beks didn't try to rip off their heads right there in the middle of the quad."

She's not stupid. My granddaughter knows that if it wouldn't have broken the truce that is so important to her, Rebekah probably would have torn the others to shreds. Kol nods lazily, though, and asks, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She smiles but shakes her head, so he tells her, "If you change your mind, you let me know, okay?"

She nods and grins slightly while she plays with the fingers of her clasped hands before looking at him and saying, "I love that about you and your family, Kol. You guys ask if I want to talk about something. You don't just assume I do or don't want to talk. You ask me, and then you respect my answer. Thank you for that."

He smiles and nods before telling her, "You're very welcome. You do the same for us, so it's only fair. Anyway, in the meantime, come and see what I've written. I'm fairly certain it will work as I intend it to."

She walks over and giggles when he pulls her onto his lap, ostensibly so she can see the book better. Really, she's on to him. He's been slowly encroaching on her personal space more and more to get her comfortable with him and his being close to her and touching her.

She's not entirely sure why he's doing that, but she knows he's definitely doing it, and it seems to be working as he had hoped it would, but she flinches when his hand brushes over the hand shaped bruise on her arm. She thinks, 'Damn, I should have kept my jacket on, but then again he probably would have noticed that too because he's so damn observant.'

Kol's voice is carefully neutral when he asks, "Who gave you this?"

While she turns her face to look at him over her shoulder, she frowns and tells him, "Don't be mad."

He pushes his chair back from the desk slightly and turns her, so she's sitting on his knee with her legs between his two spread legs. He cups her chin in his big hand before he looks her in the eyes and says, "I'm not angry with you."

She nods and then while she looks down she tells him in a small trembly voice that she hates hearing come out of her own mouth, "I know that's what I'm afraid of."

It's not that she doesn't trust him not to run off and slaughter her friends. It's just that he's already stayed his hand once with her father and she really doesn't want to push his restraint beyond what it can handle, and like I said a while ago his instinct is to hurt back anyone who dares to harm her, and she knows that even if only subconsciously.

Kol, on the other hand, thinks it's still too soon to expect complete trust from her especially with their 'families' given histories together, but that's not it. She trusts him not to hurt her friends and family if they don't harm him, his family, or her first.

If they make the first move against any of them though, then yeah, she doesn't entirely trust him not to strike back. In fact, she's sure his first instinct is to hit back as quickly and lethally as possible.

She knows the miracle it is that Rudy is still alive. It's also a miracle that Elena and Stefan left this house on New Year's Eve after Elena stabbed Kol, and Bonnie's not so sure he is going to be willing to extend that restraint towards Elena a second time.

Although he's frowning, he gently asks her, "You're afraid I'll go hurt whoever put that bruise on your arm?"

My precious girl nods slightly before her lip trembles so he tightens his hold on her hip and uses his other hand to softly stroke her cheek while he tells her, "Oh, Little Bella, I wouldn't harm them for this. Even though that's only because I know it would hurt you more, it's still true. If I didn't kill your father for striking you so hard, he broke your cheekbone, or Ms. Gilbert for stabbing me with the White Oak Ash Dagger then I'm not going to kill whoever grabbed you hard enough to cause a bruise."

He's glowing green, so she knows everything he just said is true. She also knows he's been giving her friends, or more specifically, Elena and Stefan, free passes and ignoring how upset they've been making her. Of course, she's still not stupid, so she knows doing so has been much easier because her former friend's adverse reactions to her and her decisions have only driven her closer to him and his family.

He smiles slightly while she nods and then tells him, "Elena grabbed me. In her defense, I don't think she realized just how hard she was holding me."

He frowns but given that the brat is a baby vampire, Bonnie is probably right that Elena had no clue she was hurting her. Plus, the compulsion Kol reinstated should have kept Elena from knowingly hurting her, so it's likely she didn't realize she was hurting my grandbaby.

He looks into her worried eyes and smiles while he continues to stroke her cheek and tells her, "Okay, thank you for trusting me with that information."

She nods at him and then she turns back to the book in front of them, so he pushes the chair back towards the desk so that she can read the spell he's written. She reads it, and then she glances back at him with wide eyes and then looks back at the book while she rereads it before turning to face him again and asking, "Kol, what is this?"

He smiles widely and tells her, "I was actually listening every time you or Elijah lamented about how difficult young Jeremy is finding living without both of his arms. And I'm not blind either so I could see it clearly when he was here."

She smiles so he squeezes her hip and tells her, "I also wasn't lying to him when I told him I was looking for a way to return his arms. I figured if I could come up with a non-dark way to give him his arms back and keep The Hunter's Mark from happening then it would be perfectly safe to give him back his arms."

He grins and says, "Elijah and Nik had the same idea and mentioned it to me, and when I told them I was already working on it they helped, too, and found a couple of other spells for me to read and get ideas from, and they both acted as a sounding board while I worked out the details. We figure if we heal him then you can worry about him a little less."

She thinks, 'Oh my God.' Smiling she throws her arms around him before she kisses his cheek and says, "Oh thank you, so much. This rocks!"

She tells herself, 'I'll have to remember and thank Elijah and Nik too. They've both proven to be good friends, not just to me but to Jeremy too, which I know Jeremy finds odd, but I'm beginning to realize that Elijah and Nik's worlds revolve around their loved ones and those they all care about. Somehow Jeremy and I wound up on that very short list, and Elijah and Nik have been working hard to help Jeremy in any way they can, apparently even going so far as to ask the resident magickal genius if he had any magickal ideas for healing Jer.'

Kol chuckles while he holds her close. She pulls back slightly and tells him, "For the record, I've never doubted that you were listening while I was talking. I know you usually do."

She's is fully aware that he values her and what she says. He smiles and then tells her, "I called Jeremy, and he's expecting your call to confirm that I'm not setting a trap for him."

After the holidays they all spent together they're both sure Jeremy was joking when he said that, so while Kol smiles at her she giggles and takes her phone out of her pocket and dials.

Jeremy picks up, and Kol knows from the times he's hung out with him, and he's gotten phone calls that he used his nose to turn on the phone and then again to turn on the speaker-phone function. Bonnie smiles widely and tells him, "Jer, I just read the spell that Kol wrote, and I think it'll really work and give you back your arms but keep the mark from forming so that no one gets any funny ideas about finding The Cure again."

He laughs loudly and says, "Hi Bonnie, how are you? You're good? Glad to hear it. I'm good too. Thanks for asking."

My baby girl laughs because he's right, she entirely skipped the pleasantries, but, 'Hello, we might be able to give him back his arms.'

Still, she giggles and tells him, "Sorry, but I'm freaking excited. I really think we can give you back your arms without risking ending the world."

I can hear the frown in his voice when he says, "I know what you've been telling me most nights since we made our truce, not to mention how he was when we spent the holidays with him and his family, but are you really sure he can be trusted?"

My grandbaby smiles and tells Jeremy, "I've checked and verified just about everything he's told me thus far. He has yet to lie to or try to deceive me, which I know for a fact because we did that truth spell I told you about. Though, if it makes you feel better, we can ask Abby to come over and read the spell, too, and get a second opinion before we try it."

He's silent for a minute then he says, "Okay, call her and ask, and since my nurse is currently having car troubles see if she can pick me up on the way and bring me over with her. Text me and let me know if she says yes."

Bonnie is still smiling widely when she says, "Okay, I will. See you soon."

She hangs up and calls Abby who quickly agrees to not only come over and read the spell and supervise the casting of it but to also pick Jeremy up on the way over, so she texts him, and then we wait.

About five minutes into waiting, Kol's phone rings. He takes it out of his pocket and looks at the Caller ID, and then he tells his love, "It's Elijah," before he hits send and says, "Brother, what can I do for you?" The younger original is clueless because he spoke to his brother a few hours ago so unless something has happened, he has no idea why the older man is calling him.

I frown when Elijah confirms his brother's suspicion by saying, "Kol, something happened."

He wonders, 'Are Hayley and the baby okay?' He barely thinks that before Elijah shocks me by saying, "Niklaus tried to dagger me, and although he hit my heart nothing happened besides it hurting."

Kol's eyes go wide, and he sits up straight and says, "What? It didn't work? At all?"

Elijah pauses and then says, "Not at all. I think it's because I'm now essentially a vampire/witch hybrid. Nothing else has changed. The ash was the same as always, the dagger as well, and I'm certain he inserted the dagger exactly where it needed to be to work. Are you certain Elena actually missed your heart on New Year's Eve?"

The younger original's eyes are wide while he sits and thinks, and then the truth finally sinks in: 'Ms. Gilbert did, in fact, hit my heart, and my Little Bella inadvertently took away the one thing that could harm Elijah, 'Bekah, or me. I control the one and only remaining White Oak Stake, and no one, except Bonnie, if she realizes I'm using the same hiding place as in her vision, knows where it's hidden, so the daggers were the only threat. Plus, I have control over all but one dagger, though, obviously that one dagger was still a threat.'

If what Elijah is telling him is true, and I see no reason he would lie about it, well, they owe an enormous debt to Bonnie.

He just sits there for a minute while he allows his world to reorder itself with this new information. Niklaus has daggered him seven times through the years, and he's spent at least a decade daggered during every century since they learned of the daggers. 'I've spent 401 years trapped in that damn coffin. Now Nik can never lock me in a box again. I will never have to abruptly adjust to the changes in the world because I've been on The Otherside for decades or even more than a century while in my box.'

When that truth settles over him, Kol smiles and tells his brother, "I think you are correct that it did hit its mark. I also think you, Rebekah, and I need to come up with something really nice to give to Bonnie as a way of saying thank you because while giving us back our magick was pretty huge and significant, this, well this is amazing."

Bonnie turns her face to look at him, and she's wearing the question of what he's talking about all over her expressive face. He smiles back at her, and he can hear the smile in Elijah's voice when he says, "I agree, and I will think about it. If you think about it, we can come together later and figure out what the best token of our appreciation will be."

Kol smiles wider and tells him, "I will think about it then, and I will tell Beks what happened and suggest that she think about it as well."

Elijah says, "Good, do you know yet if you, Rebekah, and Bonnie are coming down like I suggested? After Niklaus tried to dagger me, I told him what I told you earlier, and he agrees we should all be together, and he also agrees that the 'we' in 'we all' includes Bonnie if she's willing."

I can still hear the smile in his voice when he says, "Honestly, I hope she does come because while I know she is close friends with and has a positive effect on all of us, I think she has had an even more incredibly positive effect on our brother, him trying to dagger me notwithstanding."

Kol nods because he full-heartedly agrees with everything Elijah just said. He's smiling widely at the fact that his family likes his chosen mate so much already, but he tells his brother, "I still need to talk to Bonnie and see if she's willing."

Elijah sighs and tells him, "Of course. Not to rush you but you should do it sooner rather than later because Marcellus and his vampires, as well as the witches, are circling here. We need to put out a united front as soon as possible because let's face it four united originals are much more intimidating than just two of us. This is especially true given your reputation and more specifically the nature of your relationships with Marcellus and the witches of New Orleans the last two times you were here."

He pauses then continues, "Even though Niklaus is the more powerful of the two of you, physically speaking, you have put the fear of God in Marcellus' heart on more than one occasion. As a result, I feel he is more frightened of you than Niklaus even though all it would take to kill him is a bite from our brother. Though you are not a hybrid, or at least not a wolf hybrid, I honestly think you're the scarier of the two of you so far as Marcellus and his vampires are concerned. I've heard whisperings about you. Apparently, Marcellus has spoken at great length where anyone can listen of just how frightening and unhinged you actually are."

Kol laughs and tells his brother, "Good, the boy is a grade A brat and never learned his place, so he deserves to be frightened. We offered him a position in our family, and now he has thrown that back in our faces and harmed those I provided my protection to so I will have no problem reigniting his fear of me. I will avenge the hundreds of witches he's killed solely because they were witches. I knew and counted most of his witch victims as my friends so he and I will be having words about that at the very least.

Kol frowns and tells Elijah, "That said I am aware that time is of the essence. There are just a few things I still need to work out with Bonnie, though, so I'll talk to you later once I know her answer."

Elijah sighs again but says, "Very well, Brother, be safe."

Kol sighs back and tells him, "And you as well, Brother," then he hangs up.

When he puts his phone down on the desk, he cups Bonnie's cheeks in his big hands and kisses her firmly yet quickly on the lips. Her eyes widen, but they only get wider when he pulls away with a big smile and tells her, "Nik tried to dagger Elijah, and it didn't work. In fact, nothing happened, and we both think it's because we're now essentially vampire/witch hybrids. You took away the one threat to Elijah, Rebekah, and me with nothing but your generosity and caring for others."

He pecks her lips again and then says, "Thank you, Bonnie, I… I don't have words to describe how much I've hated being locked in a box for decades on end and then having to wake up and realize just how much I've missed, so thank you."

She looks at him for a minute then asks, "Nik tried to dagger Elijah?"

He nods, so she asks, "And it didn't work?"

When he nods again, she says under her breath, "Oh Holy Hell. My friends will have fits."

She pauses then she asks tentatively, "Nothing but the White Oak Stake can hurt you anymore? You're safe, or as safe as you can be? Nik can't hold it over your head anymore?"

He grins and tells her, "Based on the fact that looking back I believe Ms. Gilbert didn't actually miss my heart, yes, only the White Oak Stake is a threat now, and Elijah, Beks, and I are now just as safe from harm as Nik is. And thanks to you, no, he can't hold it over our heads anymore."

Tears slip out of her eyes, and Kol's chestnut eyes widen in alarm until he realizes they're tears of joy when she says, "Oh thank You, God."

He smiles at the proof that his love is obviously pleased that Nik no longer has that leverage over them. He uses his thumbs to wipe at her tears, and then he smiles wider when she takes out her phone again and hits a speed dial number. He has an idea who she's calling, and so do I.I realize we're right when he hears Nik pick up and say, "Luv, to what do I owe this unexpected but appreciated call?"

I chuckle softly when my grandbaby says hotly, "Niklaus Mikaelson, what the hell do you think you were doing trying to dagger Elijah?"

He lets out a heavy sigh and my time watching the Mikaelsons with my granddaughter means I know him well enough to know he's rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand while he tells her, "Luv, it's complicated."

She's scowling when she tells him, "Oh I doubt it's too complicated. You don't go around threatening or attacking your loved ones Nik. You better come up with a heartfelt apology and change your ways, or I'll find or personally write a nasty little curse to make you perpetually nice and put it on you myself."

Kol and I laugh softly at the palpable disgust he feels at that idea when he says, "I assure you, Luv, that won't be necessary. I will think of a way to properly make up my dodgy behavior to Elijah."

My grandbaby smiles ever so slightly before saying, "Good, you better."

Pausing a moment, Niklaus then asks, "I take it if you know I tried to dagger him, Elijah has spoken to Kol?"

Nodding she tells him, "Just now actually."

"Then I assume you know about Hayley?"

Bonnie gets a puzzled look on her face just before she asks, "Hayley? Tyler's wolf friend that you had, um, some fun times with? No, what's wrong with her?"

Niklaus chuckles before he tells her, "Yes, her, and nothing is wrong with her per say, but she's pregnant… with my child."

Kol and I again both laugh when Bonnie softly says, "She's what? Oh my God," then louder she says, "Um, not to disparage her but are you sure it's yours since you're, you know, a vampire?"

Chuckling again he says, "It feels like it's of my blood, and she was glowing green when she said it couldn't possibly be anyone else's, so yes."

Her hazel eyes are still open wide when my precious girl says, "Wow, um okay, is there anything either of you need from us?"

He sighs and tells her, "If Kol has spoken to Elijah, then I'll let Kol broach that subject with you."

She frowns but says, "Um, okay? I need to talk to you when you come back. I found a spell I want to do for you, but I need to talk to you about it first."

I can hear him frowning when he asks, "I'm not sure I am coming back, Luv. Can you tell me about it now?"

I realize a moment later that she's talking about the spell to make him able to create hybrids without the use of doppelgänger blood when she says, "Um I guess so. Anyway, I was looking through one of my ancestor's books, and I found the original copy of the spell your mother placed on you to shackle your wolf side. It told me to go looking for another book which had on one page the spell Gretta performed to give you back your wolf side and then the page after that was a spell to counteract the need for doppelgänger blood to make hybrids."

She pauses, but Niklaus doesn't make a sound, so she tells him, "Ayana felt very strongly that your mother was in the wrong placing the curse on you. So, she made a point to write down the way to undo it, but she couldn't figure out a way to allow you to make hybrids without adding the loophole about the doppelgänger blood. She figured out a way to undo that loophole once you lifted the curse itself, though, so she wrote that down and then made her daughter promise to pass the book down through the generations. She knew one of her descendants would encounter you again and be in a position to help you."

She stops to breathe and then when Niklaus still hasn't said anything, she tells him, "I don't know if you hold any anger towards Ayana, but she appears to have truly sympathized with you, and I think she genuinely wanted to help you right the wrongs your bitch of a mother committed against you."

She pauses and then tells him, "Anyway, essentially the spell would make you able to create hybrids without needing to feed them doppelgänger blood. I think this is why your aura still has a few holes in it. If we do this spell, it should fill them up completely and then we won't have to worry about anyone getting any funny ideas about using the holes against you. Incidentally, it'll also make it so that if you feed your blood to a vampire, such as your siblings, then they would be permanently immune to the effects of wolf or hybrid Venom."

She shifts on Kol's lap and then says, "I know how much you hate being alone. This spell would make it possible for you to make more like you. It would safeguard your actual family so that no one can take them away from you if you're too far away to cure them in time if they get bit."

She stops, and Niklaus is silent for several minutes before she asks, "Uh, Nik are you still there?"

He sighs then says, "I'm here, Luv. Why do you want to do this spell for me?"

She frowns when she asks, "What do you mean why do I want to do it? It'll make you completely whole and should make you as safe as possible. It'll also make you just as able to make progeny as your siblings. Just as it was wrong to shackle your wolf side, it was also wrong to make you dependent on the doppelgänger to be able to make hybrids. Plus, like I said I know you worry about your family. I was talking to 'Bekah the other day, and she said you hardly ever go more than a few hours away from your family. She thinks it's because you worry about them and know that they are weakened by werewolf venom even though it won't kill them, so you fear that wolves will attack them and possibly use their weakened state against them. I know there's at least one White Oak Stake, but is there any guarantee that your asshole didn't have more than one and hide it or them somewhere? And if he did have more than one and hid them, is there any guarantee that no one knows where they are? On the off chance that there are more than the one you know about, I want to help you be whole and protect your family at the same time."

Bonnie can hear his frown from where she's sitting when he asks, "So, it's because you're friends with my siblings and want them to be safe?"

She smiles slightly and says, "That's a very, very small part of it, but mostly I want to do it for what it will mean for you, my friend, who has gotten the short end of the stick repeatedly throughout the last thousand years."

He gasps and then goes silent again. Two minutes of silence later she says, "Nik?"

Through Kol's thoughts I can hear the smile in his voice and what sounds like him wiping tears from his face when he says, "Sorry Luv, you just shocked me. I can hear your steady heart rate and breathing so I know you're telling me the truth, and quite frankly no one has ever called me their friend before, or at least no one who wasn't a mass murderer like me. You're everything good and pure in the world, and somehow I earned your friendship and apparently your trust if you're willing to do this spell and let me make hybrids any time I please, and that just blows my mind, especially after everything I did to you and your friends."

She's smiling when she tells him, "You've proven yourself Pebbles, well except for trying to dagger Elijah, and for the record, if you try to harm anyone I care about again, your siblings included, and I really will put a niceness curse on you."

She shakes her head and then says, "Anyway, you've taken the second chance I gave you and you haven't thrown it back in my face. So far as I know, you've adhered to the terms of the truce, and you've been a good friend to me these past few weeks. I know you think I'm friends with your siblings and only put up with you because of them but that's not true. You've been my friend, and I'm yours and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least tell you about this spell and offer to do it for you. You deserve to be whole Nik. And you and your siblings deserve to be safe and together for all time."

I can hear him nodding while he says, "Okay, well I'm not sure when I'll be back, but talk to Kol and hear what he has to say and then get back to me. I'm in no hurry to make more hybrids but you make a fair point about us not having any guarantees that there aren't more White Oak Stakes out there so protecting my family from wolf attacks that would make them weaker and more vulnerable would ease some of my worries, so when you know what you plan to do you can let me know, okay?"

She nods with drawn brows, and pursed lips when she says, "Okay, I'll talk to you later then, and I better hear from Elijah that you've been properly groveling, or I'll get you Nik."

He chuckles once more and says, "I'll do my best Luv. Talk to you later."

"Stay safe Nik."

He says, "And you as well, Luv."

She nods and says, "Okay, bye." She hangs up. Then she turns to look at Kol and jumps back to the earlier part of her conversation with Niklaus, "I knew they slept together. 'Bekah called while they were going at it and bitched about the noises after you and she dropped me off at home after our shopping trip for witchy supplies. I think it was a few days after you got your magick back, but now she's pregnant with a vampire's baby?"

He chuckles and tells her, "Beks and I both gave him a running commentary on his technique when we got home and realized what he was doing. It was an excellent way to get a little payback without risking being daggered, especially because the little wolf's senses weren't sensitive enough to hear us."

My grandbaby smiles and giggles before he frowns slightly and tells her, "To answer your question though, no, she's pregnant with a hybrid's baby not a vampire's baby. There is a difference, a big difference. According to Elijah, whom I spoke to about this earlier today, the witches of The Quarter described it as nature's loophole."

Bonnie just nods, but then she remembers what else Niklaus said and asks, "So what is Nik waiting for you to talk to me about?"

He releases a heavy breath and thinks, 'I guess it's now or never. Please God let her think on it hard and ultimately say yes.'

He brushes the last of her tears away and tells her, "Given the news regarding Hayley it's important for our family to appear united, so Elijah and Nik want Rebekah and me to join them in New Orleans."

Her face falls at his words and while her lip trembles she asks, "You… you're leaving?"

She tries to fight her tears, but she doesn't succeed, so he brings his hands back up to her face and wipes away a tear or two, "Don't cry, Little Bella, I hope this isn't goodbye."

She frowns and with a tremble in her voice asks, "But if you're leaving, then isn't it?"

He smiles certain that she'll say yes given her slumped shoulders, downturned face, and trembling limbs at the idea of him leaving that I don't think she even notices, so with his smile firmly in place, he tells her, "I, we, want you to come with us. If you want to, that is. That's why Nik said to let him know what your plans are. He's hoping, just as the rest of us are, that you'll choose to come with us and live in New Orleans as part of our family."

Her hazel eyes shoot open wide and jump up to meet his chestnut ones, and her mouth falls open slightly before she closes her mouth and asks, "You what? You… you want me to go live in New Orleans with you and your family?"

He nods slowly and smiles tenderly while he tucks some strands of her hair behind her ear and says, "Yes, Elijah has offered to help you study for your GED to appease your parents. I believe he mentioned visiting New Orleans' Public and University Libraries and doing The Knowledge Spell on every book that might be useful to you and then helping you arrange to take the test so that your father, mostly, won't get too upset about you moving in the middle of the school year. That way the five of us can be together and help each other protect Hayley and the baby."

He pauses and then says, "Don't answer right now. Just think about it, okay?"

She just nods and sits there contemplating what he just said to her, and he chooses to leave her to her thoughts, so he re-reads over the spell to give Jeremy back his arms making sure that he's thought of everything.