Chap 5:

I am going to be skipping 5x04 because Silas and Katherine weren't in that episode at all, and Silas hasn't lost his mental powers in quite the same way in this fic, so it just wouldn't be relevant here.

"Where are we?" Katherine asked grumpily as the car pulled to a stop outside a block of flats. Not much could have been derived from the long journey to wherever here was, the windows were covered with a grey film, and the mobility of them were controlled from the driver's window, which, conveniantly, Silas was in the way of.

"A place well-hidden enough." Silas replied tersely, before climbing out the car. She jumped out as well, hissing quietly when she landed on her sore leg, the muscle cramping sharply, before the pain faded. She shuffled around the back of the car to Silas' side, walking as slowly as she could, whilst trying to ignore the embarrassment of the situation and the amused look Silas gave her when she glared at him.

"Follow me."

He smirked, as she begrudgingly marched after him, muttering a few swear words under her breath as her body dragged her unwillingly towards his home, the compulsion he had used earlier forcing her to obey him.

"This is where you're living? A pokey flat with dingy furniture and dodgy neighbours?" Katherine said spitefully as she followed him inside.

"No, I brought you here just for the sake of it, yes this is where I'm living." Silas replied sarcastically, waving her comment away as they headed up the stairs into the fourth floor. He grabbed his keys out of his side pocket and opened the door, taking Katherine by the arm and leading her in.

"So, why don't you own a mansion then? You could afford it, you know, we live in modern times, and you can obviously compel the right sort of people." Katherine stated, examining the wall with a grimace.

He turned towards her. "I don't like big spaces. That cave was big enough and I've learnt that large homes just make you feel more alone."

She bit her lip, and didn't say anything else, turning away from him and towards the window. The living room looked like someone had had a white canvas and painted in black furniture, small and separated from each other.

"Okay. Go ahead, I know you have more questions. 'Why am I here? What are you going to do with me? What do you want? Do you have a pair of hair tongs?'" He said, sitting down in his armchair, signature smirk back in place.

"That depends." She smiled. "Are you going to give me the answers?"

He shrugged. "That depends. Do I need to? I can your brain working like clockwork, the clogs ticking together inside your pretty little head, you'll figure it out soon enough, if not already."

"I know. Do you think I would have survived five hundred years if I wasn't anything more than a pretty face?" Katherine shot back. "And you're right, I do know the answers. You don't have a pair of hair tongs, you wouldn't know how to use them." She smiled coyly at him.

"Besides, I have -"

She was cut off by her leg throbbing again, the muscle twitching painfully, and this time she couldn't help gasping out in pain at the suddenness of it. Silas looked up at her, hobbling awkwardly on one leg, gingerly pressing the ball of her other foot into the ground, trying to alleviate her discomfort and frowned.

"What's wrong?" He asked, staring at her.

"Like you care - ah!" Another jolt of agony shot up her leg and she grabbed onto a shelf to balance on her good leg. Silas marched over to her and grabbed her waist, hooking her arm around his neck and helping her to the couch laying her legs out, his strength meaning she couldn't struggle. Then he pulled her trouser leg up, exposing more of her skin, massaging it gently with his fingers. A surprising warmth shot up her body, spreading through her and pooling in her stomach. Amazingly, the pain faded.

"What are you doing?" She asked, fidgeting nervously, ignoring the feelings his touch ignited. It was the first time that someone who had hunted her took care of her well-being, and she had to say, for some reason it was unnerving.

"I'm trying to help you, what does it look like?" Silas snapped. "I need you to be healthy. If it's a serious injury, it could mean death, and you aren't useful to me dead." He began squeezing her calf and rotating it around gently with both hands. "It looks like a muscle bruise, don't walk on it for a few days, I've dulled the pain."

Katherine was about to ask how, then remembered that he could use his mental powers to block her from feeling pain, or to make her think there wasn't any.

"How am I going to get to my room?" She indicated the door next to presumably his.

He seemed to consider this for a moment, then answered. "I'll carry you."

"Oh, well thanks Mr. Hero Hair," she snarked sarcastically. "while you're at it, get me some food, and nothing in packets."

Silas glared at her and she shrugged. "What? You've kidnapped me so you can somehow use me to be with your true love again, the least you can do is get little old me something to eat."

With an impatient sigh, he left the apartment, locking it up. She heard him slowly descending down the stairs, the noise getting fainter and fainter until she was left with nothing but her own thoughts, sitting there, feeling empty and useless, as the minutes ticked by, alone with her mind. She was going to die. She knew she was, she'd figured that out, the Other Side was the only thing stopping him from doing whatever it was he was going to do to her, that involved the cure. For some reason, he wanted her, and only in the months since she had taken the cure. Somehow he must have been planning to use her to cure himself. And she was only human, and humans generally tended to die in supernatural wars when they got stuck in the middle.

It scared her, how close it was. The fear pushed her to her feet, and limped awkwardly towards the door. An invisible force pushed her hand back as she reached for the handle. Yep, definetly dead. Which was a shame because she had perfected the art of lock picking over the years, though she suspected that Silas already knew that. She sighed, looking around the room. There was a window, but she was about four floors up, so chances were she'd break a leg, and possibly her neck at the very least. Fire escape? But then, she probably wouldn't be able to climb out on her bad leg, and she doubted that Silas' compulsion would even allow that loophole.

She raided his jacket hung on the hook on the door, which didn't turn out to have anything useful, just a password protected phone, a travel guide, and a passport with Stefan's name in it. Nothing about that told her about her current predicament other than that he'd been travelling. A lot. Then, when she grew bored with that, she hopped towards the kitchen, idly examining the shiny counter, and the neatly organised shelves. It was small, very white, and minimalist; the plates were stacked in order of size, and the cups were all stood in little lines. Opening a drawer, she saw the cutlery was all facing the same way, the knives all turned in the same direction. Honestly, she snorted in amusement. She never would have guessed. Silas was a complete neat freak. She bet he even had his clothes colour co-ordinated -

The key clicked in the door. Katherine jumped, then limped as fast as she could back to her sofa. He was fast. She hadn't even gotten around to examining his bedroom, though that, if the rest of the apartment was anything to shed light on, was also probably very sparce and tidy.

"Okay," Silas said, coming in with a carrier bag. "I've got fruit, biscuits, bread and jam. Is that good enough for you, your Highness?" He smirked in a condescending tone, dumping the bag on the kitchen table. Katherine sighed at the irony.

"Well, you're not a completely idiotic kidnapper." She said as she stood back up.

"Hmm." Was all he gave in response as she approached. She rolled her eyes and got out an apple. He looked at her for a moment, then at the door, at his jacket, and walked over to it. She chewed her lip anxiously.

"By the way, if you're going to search through my apartment, the least you can do is redo my pocket buttons on my jacket." He said, buttoning up said pocket. She shifted awkwardly. "Well, you're not exactly being open about why I'm here, so I didn't really have a choice since I'm particularly nosy."

He laughed. "You can wriggle out of blame for just about anything, can't you?"

"What?" She shrugged and took a bite out of her apple, watching him as he sat down on the sofa and turned it on. A penguin documentary flared to life. "It's true. And, by the way, that was a subtle hint at telling you to tell me why I'm here."

"And I've told you, you'll figure it out." He turned around to look at her. "And I told you not to walk on your leg."

She shrugged and bit her apple again. "Hey, I'm just trying to make this easier for both of us. If I can manage to hop around, then that means that you don't have to carry me."

"Fantastic. I don't have to put up with you yapping about your current status all night." Came the nonplussed reply.

Katherine sighed. He was tricky to work with. "I'll give you a compromise." She hobbled around until she was in front of him, blocking the TV. "I'll tell you what I think I know and have figured out, and you can tell me if I'm right or wrong. Deal?"

He looked at her, eyes raking over her speculatively, and she shivered despite herself. He was so different to Stefan. Not only could she feel it, but she could see it in his confident attitude, his arrogant mannerisms, and even the way he styled his hair and the clothes he wore, brighter and more vivid. Maybe it was because he had been forgotten for so long that he wanted to make an impression, make up for all that lost time.

"Fine." He said. She blinked at him blankly, before remembering what they were talking about. She thought briefly about asking him how he looked like Stefan, but something told her that that was a topic he would not be discussing with her, and that perhaps it was also a topic she wouldn't like to know anymore about, so she proceeded with her original questioning.

"You weren't that bothered about me a year ago, when I was a vampire, then, all of a sudden, I'm human, and you're siccing an entire town on me. Which means that you need me to become mortal, so that must mean that the cure still exists somehow." He gritted his teeth in irritance and she tilted her head to the side, smirking. "How close am I?"

"Close enough. I told you you'd figure it out." He smiled.

"That's not an answer." Katherine said sharply. "You agreed to give me answers if I guessed correctly."

"No, I agreed to tell you if you guessed right or wrong."

"Am I right then?"

"Yes. But there's more to the story."

"Story? What story?" She frowned. Silas looked at her tersely, eyes guarded.

"I think I have the right to know why you took me. I deserve to know what you want with me."

He held her gaze steadily. "The cure. It still exists, and I still want it, that much you're aware of. But it just happens to be running in your veins right now." She suddenly felt very cold. "Your blood, is the cure, Katherine. And I need every last drop of it to cure myself."

"But I'm a human, now," she said. "If you do that, then I -"

"You die. I know." He said nonchalantly, but his eyes said something else. Sadness, bitterness, she couldn't quite tell. "Now, move out of the way, let me watch." He indicated at the TV with the remote.

Katherine huffed in anger and disbelief. "You expect me to just do what you say and accept that you're going to kill me without doing anything -"

"Yes, that's exactly what I expect you to do." He replied coolly. "Considering that if you defy me, I can easily compel you to do whatever I want without your own free will. Now, move."

Katherine dug her feet into the ground in a stubborn attempt to disobey him, but then a force suddenly seemed to take hold of her body and marched her out of the way sideways before she could even try to stop herself. She scowled when he snickered, knowing full well that his little trick was just a taster of what he would do if she pushed him, then circled back towards the kitchen to escape her complete mortification. No one, not even Klaus had ever made her feel that way in, well...centuries, and it was unnerving. She didn't deserve to feel like that. Not when for the thousandth time in her life she was the sacrificial lamb for someone else's benefit.

"You," she spat angrily. "Are such an arrogant asshole! You're forcing me into something I have no say in just to be with your girlfriend, who has probably forgotten all about you because you two last saw each other like a billion years ago, and not even giving me a single thought in the process! What about me -"

"You're feeling tired." Silas interrupted. "Get ready for bed."

She glared at him and frowned. "What are you -" a wave of exhaustion swept over her and she gripped the counter tightly with one hand. "You bastard."

She could feel his smirk. "Your pyjamas are in your room down there," he pointed down the hallway. "Just telling you in case you haven't ransacked it yet."

She was so tired that she couldn't help but comply. Sleep was about to concave on her, so she headed down into the room he had pointed at and picked up the white nightgown and trousers left folded on her bed, nearly toppling over. She headed back out into the living room.

"Can you at least give me enough leway to have a shower and put on these?" She snapped.

He glanced at her. "Fine. Five minutes."

The fatigue relinquished, allowing her to stand straight and her eyelids to stop drooping. She still didn't move, and he looked at her again.

"Goodnight, Katherine." He smiled, almost innocent, but with a pressing determination behind his words. She glared at him silently, before that force marched her into the bathroom, still clutching her pyjamas to her chest, begrudgingly acknowledging that he'd won. For now. Quickly, she locked the door and changed out of her dirty clothes, grabbed the body soap and shampoo from the shelf and turned the shower on, scrubbing away the dirt and sweat from today's trek through the forest and the incessant stalkers breathing down her neck.

It was only after she had changed into her pyjamas that she realised that she had no toothbrush. It seemed that that was one thing Silas had forgotten to prepare for. There was only one by the sink in sterilising fluid, and she didn't think, judging from his apartment, that after two thousand years of not being clean, Silas wouldn't use a toothbrush. She swore under her breath, running her tongue over her teeth and grimacing. She really didn't feel like going back out there and asking Silas to buy her a toothbrush; she didn't think she could stand another minute in his company, so without second thought, she grabbed his toothbrush, squeezed a large glob of toothpaste onto the end and quickly scrubbed her teeth before spitting and rinsing it and sticking it back in its jar.

She opened the door to see Silas waiting outside.

"You didn't get me a toothbrush." Was the first thing that flew out of her mouth. She glared at him defiantly.

"Well then, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to get one." Silas shrugged with a snide smirk.

She smiled innocently. "Oh no, that's fine, I just used yours. Night!" And, ignoring his look of indignation, she walked into her room and slammed the door shut behind her. As she did so, she didn't see the indignation drop to reveal bitter regret.

He had to say, she had taken him by surprise. Nothing like Amara. She was questioning by nature, manipulative, fiery, yet oddly vulnerable. Someone you immediately hated yet enjoyed at the same time, but he found himself liking her spirit. She made him laugh. Silas hadn't laughed in centuries and the mere notion made him feel mortal, made him feel something deep in his chest that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Longing.

Longing for Amara's lookalike. Who was staying in the next room, with nothing but a wall separating them.

It was going to be a long night.

Thank you for reading! I'm thinking of turning this into an M-rated fic. It would be my first M story, and nothing M would be happening for several chapters, but please let me know if that is a story idea I should consider taking.