Disclaimer: I don't own tvd, it belongs to Julie Plec and L.J Smith.

They were in...well, Katherine didn't know where exactly. 1994, May 10th. They'd gone back in time. That couldn't be possible. No way. But the newspaper flashing the date in front of them couldn't be lying. It was a specific date, and probably one of the worst possible ones. They'd stepped out of one Hell, and into another. It didn't seem fair, it wasn't.

And while she was absorbing this dilemma, Silas was making pancakes. Pancakes. She'd laugh at the sight, but it didn't seem funny right now, in this place.

They'd been here two days, and there was no-one else here, and they were stuck on repeat in the same day, all over again.

Worst of all, they were stuck in Elena's house. She'd suggested the Boarding House, but no, Silas wanted to stay here where all the pancake batter mix was, with the bright, happy wallpaper, and the neat and orderly furniture. Boring! She'd leave, but she'd be alone again, and who knew what was creeping about here, however unlikely.

Besides, for some reason she felt much safer with him.

"Do you want whipped cream?" Silas asked cheerily, painting a huge smile onto his face when she glared at him. He was enjoying her discomfort way too much.

"You're being ridiculous. And annoying." Katherine said, as he placed the plate in front of her. The pancake had a really creepy smiley face on it with chocolate sauce, and it looked like it was watching her. She jabbed at it viciously, taking out her frustration on it.

"Leave the pancake alone!" Silas said, leaning into her hair and smirking.

"You're lucky you're not the pancake!" Katherine smiled, gripping her fork sinisterly.

"Ooh, I've been warned, scary!" Silas sat down opposite her. He was so irritating. Urgh, and...sexy, she had to admit that.

"Mmmm, anyway, since we're stuck in the worst possible year, you have any quick-smart ways of getting out?" She asked, chewing her pancake. It was surprisingly good, a light and fluffy texture.

"Yes, but without an ascendant, we aren't getting anywhere." Silas said, disappointment in his eyes that she knew was a reflection of her own emotions. She didn't want to be stuck here, but it was better than before. At least they had a nice view and a constant supply of food.

"Damn." Katherine muttered. "Then we might as well go shopping!" Her spirits lifted as she said it. Maybe shopping would help her feel better about being dead.

"We have to eat something other than pancakes!" She added reasonably. Silas gritted his teeth. "Yeah, why not?"

Katherine clapped her hands excitedly. "Great! Let's go!" She jumped up and hurried out the front door, vaguely irritated by Silas laughing at her. She pursed her lips, and wandered off down the road, towards the mall. She didn't have a car, but she was determined to have fun in this one-horse town.

She'd been kicked out of Hell, so she could do anything.

~X~

They'd been here two weeks. Two weeks, and they still hadn't found a way out. She was starting to think they never would.

Right up until she saw the car parked in the shopping mall parking lot that definitely hadn't been there yesterday.

"You've got to be kidding me." She muttered to herself. Oh, this was getting worse by the second.

"There's someone here?" Silas asked, eyes widening in delight.

"Not just anyone. That's Damon's car!" Katherine whispered, hopping over it. There was glee in her horror as well; maybe she could trash it.

"Damon's here?" Silas sounded dubious.

"Huh," she stopped in her tracks. That did sound unlikely. "Maybe not, that guy's practically unkillable purely because of his ironic sense of humour. He must have left it here in 1994."

"Hopefully." Silas muttered, walking into the food shop. Katherine smirked, and followed him in as he grabbed a shopping trolley and pushed it down the aisle.

"Well, would you rather Tessa was here?" She remarked snidely as she opened a freezer door and took out some lollies. She'd missed them.

"No, but," he pulled a pair of sunglasses from the rack next to him and put them on, leaning on the trolley. "Damon's not much better, and he's not much use."

"I suppose." She sighed as she grabbed a bag of apples and tossed them in. "Anyway, what's next on the list?"

"Um," Silas looked down at the notepaper he'd scrawled on. "Ice cream."

Katherine dumped in a tub of ice cream, frowning at how unhealthy they were.

"But-" she started to argue, but the the sound of someone shoving open the door caused them both to freeze in their tracks. As though simultaneously, they ducked into the next aisle, Silas going round and shoving the trolley right out the back door.

"What? Why are we running?" Katherine demanded as Silas sped round the corner.

"What if they're dangerous to us? I mean, we're not very well liked, you should hear what people say about you." He hissed back at her.

"Well, excuse me for being sociable. It's not like I want to be stuck here with you!" She snapped back hotly, marching off as fast as she could in her heels. She was so angry, she didn't want to be here anymore, she wanted to be alive.

And since she couldn't have her daughter, she would have to settle for that.

"Urgh, Katherine, wait, I'm sorry!" She heard Silas grumble. He spun the trolley around and sped after her.

"Yeah, you should be." She shot back moodily, but she stopped anyway. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

"Yeah, so just...sorry." He said softly as he came up behind her.

She shrugged. "Okay." Their relationship really wasn't that mutual, they just clashed on a regular basis.

"We'll go back, see if they can help, come on." He slowly pushed the trolley until they were back at the corner, where he stopped and peeked around. Katherine hovered behind him, waiting for him to tell her something. But he didn't. Instead, his entire body had stiffened, and he sucked in a breath in shock.

"What? What do you see?" Katherine tried to edge impatiently around him, but he wouldn't move. Eventually she gave up, tugging hard on his arm until he turned back around. He looked angry, a storm in his eyes. She couldn't imagine anyone apart from Tessa that would cause that reaction.

But what he said next changed everything.

"Bonnie." He said tersely. His body was still wired and tense. "Bonnie Bennett. And, Damon, but that's no longer important."

She couldn't believe what she had heard. The anger that fueled her at that moment was unbelievable. The Bennett witch, who had stood there and watched as she was sucked away into oblivion, and hadn't lifted a finger. This must have been the luckiest coincidence she'd ever come across.

"She's dead."

"Oh, that she is." Silas smirked, releasing the forgotten trolley, letting it bounce quietly against the building wall. Katherine made to walk out, to shred Bonnie to pieces, but Silas stopped her.

"No, no, not yet. Maybe we could...mess around with them a little. Make them suffer." A small, evil smile played around Silas' lips, and she found herself enjoying it. Enjoying his dark, little theme. It was kind of cute.

"Where do I sign up?"

~X~

Yellow Ledbetter. Just two words. So simple, so easy, yet could be twisted in a different meaning altogether. One of danger.

She was surprised Bonnie hadn't found it sooner in that newspaper of hers, so she found it for her.

The look on Damon's face was priceless.

"I could-I could-" Silas gestured frantically, as he tried to express his delight over her brilliant idea. She thought he would hug her, or at least stop making the pancakes every morning, but instead he kissed her.

Deeply.

With tongue.

She shouldn't have enjoyed it, but she just couldn't resist. So she closed her eyes, and just flowed into it, gripping the hand in her hair. She hadn't been kissed like that, in so long, and it felt good knowing it came from him.

It ended too soon, with a passion that swept through her, and left her terrified, yet wanting more.

He pulled away, still leaning in so close that she could kiss him again, his forehead pressed to hers.

"I had to do that at least once." He whispered, and then he turned around and walked away up the stairs, leaving her in a state of confusion and...emotion. An emotion she couldn't quite place.

And, just like that, it was over.

For now.

~X~

There were days, the same old days, where Katherine just didn't know what to do about it. About him.

It had been a week, since the...incident, but whenever she thought about it, she needed a drink.

So, often on days like these, she would raid the Gilbert's wine cellar, and then the neighbours, when they run out, and she would turn the stereo up loud, pour out an elegant glass of wine for herself, and think about him, as she swayed and danced to the music. A lot.

His kiss...she found herself wanting more of it than she should, and he'd left behind feelings in her that couldn't be erased. And it wasn't fair.

Death really sucked.

Because she knew, that Silas was substituting her for Amara, it wasn't hard to figure out, but she didn't care anyway. And that was what would destroy her the most.

So she let wine burn, as it slid down her throat in a blissful haze as his eyes sizzled holes in the back of her head, watching her, constantly.

His beautiful, beautiful, leaf-green eyes...

Katherine snapped out of it, all of a sudden aware that she had been staring at him, leaning forward, trying to see his face and his sparkly, smouldering eyes. And she did, as he looked up and saw her precarious position in mild shock, and the tiny sober part of her brain remembered to be embarrassed and show her mortification in her hot, red cheeks. She was not a subtle drunk. Sadly.

"What?" He smirked, looking up from his map reading, and gulping down his glass of bourbon. He'd been trying to find a way into the tunnels where the ascendent thingy would align with the eclipse.

She smiled drowsily at him, his own smile chasing her embarrassment away. His face was amazingly hot. How had she not seen how good-looking he was before? How could someone be that handsome, and she hadn't fully realised it yet? Even with Stefan, she hadn't quite comprehended it, though with her love for him she definitely should have. He should grow out a moustache. A moustache, on Silas. Wasn't that an evil guy sign? The mere image of moustache Silas made her giggle hysterically before she could control herself, and Silas looked at her sharply.

"How much did you drink?" He asked. He was almost smiling, nearly there.

She beamed back so widely her cheeks started hurting. "You're really pretty." She blurted out before she could stop herself. Alarm bells were ringing at the back of her head, but they were too dull for her to listen to them. Silas actually smiled this time, lips wordlessly pulling up in a beautifully sweet smile despite himself and straining at his cheek muscles as he leaned back in his chair.

"Like, proper beautiful. I swear, you're prettier than Stefan, and he's really pretty." Katherine rambled on, voice slurring, and she stumbled in her heels clumsily towards him. She frowned at her feet. When had she put on her heels? Everything was a blur right now. Just what she wanted it to be.

"Thank you, I think." Silas said, reaching out to grab her flailing arms as she hobbled towards him. If he hadn't, she would have fallen flat into his lap, and even drunk that would be something she could never live down.

"You should loosen up. You're being boooooring!" Katherine drew out the word as she scrabbled for a hold on his shirt, gripping his collar tightly. Something shifted in his eyes; she couldn't tell what, but she was almost sure it was something close to lust. He was just skimming his eyes over her body as she leaned on him, squirming to find a comfortable place in his lap, and he didn't seem to be listening, so she said it again. "Boooooring!" It sounded funny, and he laughed, his hands on her arms slowly sliding down to her waist, his gaze on her face, nearing, nearing, nearing, and she was suddenly all too aware of his hands, sparking electricity wherever he touched her. Oh, God. She swallowed nervously, her throat suddenly dry as her eyes flickered to his lips, mere inches away from brushing her own and igniting that deep, fiery passion inside her that she craved.

"Siiiilas." Katherine dragged his name out, testing it on her tongue, in a sharp, ragged whisper, as he slowly leaned closer, an enticing invite in his eyes, and in an instant she knew she wanted him, in that moment she wanted him more than anything she'd ever wanted in her entire life, and the intensity of it left her shaking, and caused her to shove him back and scramble out of his lap. No way was she drunk enough to be let down by disappointment. Damn it.

But eventually, he would be hers, and damn that stupid doppelgänger prophecy if it separated them, because she was Katherine Pierce and she always got what she wanted. Even in death.

"No." She slurred, shaking her finger at him. He smirked again in amusement.

"No?"

"Yep. No." She shook her head at him vigorously. She was not going to sleep with him in Elena's house...ugh, no. But someday, someday, they would go there.

Not now, not yet, but one day, you will be mine.

~X~

Whatever had happened between them, he wouldn't speak of it again. And scaring the hell out of Bonnie and Damon was his primary focus, probably so he couldn't talk about it.

It was frustratingly scary how much she wanted him now that she'd had him for a split second.

It was freakingly weird how much she enjoyed taking out that frustration on Damon's car with a poker, leaving it a completely smashed and battered version of what it once was.

And stealing his keys. That was fun too.

In the end, it didn't really matter. No matter what she did, she would never like the world she was stuck in for eternity.

Katherine needed to get home. She needed to see Stefan. She needed to see Nadia, although that was no longer an option.

So she would just have to make-do with what she had. An all powerful witch who she may or may not have the tiniest crush on, and who may or may not like her back, a vampire who couldn't drink blood here, and another witch who had recently given up all her magic, and probably no longer had it.

"I want to get home." She said aloud. Silas looked up at her from his grimoire. "Well, that's why we're trying to find the ascendant." He replied snidely. It was the first real acknowledgement he'd given her, even if it was a rude one.

"Yeah, I know, but I need someone who'll be able to work one hundred percent. Who can actually find it." She shot back snootily, turning away.

"Yeah, hello, perfect specimen of man right here." Silas waved at her, smirking. "If I can do a locators spell, then we can get it, go into a source of power i.e. underground, perform the spell in the light of the eclipse and woala! Done, back to life." He shrugged, as Katherine gaped at him open-mouthed. Whatever he had just said, it didn't sound easy, and to travel forward in time and get resurrected? It would take a hell of a lot of power.

"Can I do it? My dad was a traveler, I died as a human, I could help." Katherine suggested, despite not even beginning to grasp the basics of their path home.

"The more the merrier," Silas shrugged, and how did he not realise her gaze on his lips?! "Bonnie died as the anchor to the Other Side, so I doubt she'll be much help."

She hoped he could do it, she needed to do it, more than anything else. Because, she had come to realise, that beyond whatever she was feeling, she had developed some bond of trust with him, however tenuous, and she hadn't had that in a very long time.

It scared her most of all that she wasn't afraid of it, not even a little bit.

~X~

But they needed that ascendant. More than anything. So, begrudgingly, they would have to make themselves known to Damon and Bonnie in the hopes that they had more leads.

Though the way she marched away from him the fourth time that week didn't exactly inspire much confidence in Katherine, but she would have to try.

After the eclipse, they went into the shop, knowing full well that Damon and Bonnie wouldn't show up for another several hours. She grabbed a rolled up map from the back, whilst Silas raided the counter and came up with a handful of change. Although why he would need money if they were in a land with no other people to exchange it with, she didn't know.

She grabbed a bag of crisps, and grabbed a bottle of bourbon, then tossed a sprig of vervain in it for luck; she wouldn't put it past Damon to try and compel her away, and swigged a mouthful of it back. She may need to be slightly tipsy if having to deal with the both of them.

And Silas' erratic behaviour, apparently, since he had just dashed outside with the money, heading right for the merry-go-round right outside the shop. She watched, in light amusement, as he examined the instructions on the machine, then slotted the coins in one by one and kneeled down and started tapping some buttons on the battery box. How he'd figured that out, she would never know.

Hopefully, it was something good. Something to trick Bonnie and Damon, even if it was a children's toy.

Silas suddenly stood up, looked over his shoulder, and hurried back into the shop over to her, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"What did you do?" Katherine asked, smiling as he grabbed another bottle of bourbon.

"Oh, that was just setting the merry-go-thing on a timer, so when Damon and Bonnie get here in," he looked at his watch, which couldn't possibly be correct in a place that constantly relived itself, but apparently was, "Twenty minutes! Give or take," He took another sip of bourbon. "They'll be super freaked out and probably get into an argument about it, then Bonnie will storm off for the fourteenth time, and Damon will come here to drink it off, but his drinks will be filled with vervain."

Katherine frowned at him, a little weirded out by how much he knew about their behaviour patterns. He saw it, and he clucked his tongue, realisation dawning on him. "I really shouldn't know that."

"You really shouldn't." She agreed, walking into the back, and opening her crisps. She handed Silas a wooden chair, smirking as he rolled his eyes and stamped hard on one of the legs, splintering it and breaking it off. He picked it up and tossed the chair behind her, eyes gleaming predatorily at the sharp points at the end of the wooden leg, forming a home-made stake. Just for Damon, who she was almost sure she could see outside, arguing again with Bonnie.

"So, you know what to do?" He asked impatiently.

"Seriously? You're asking me what to do? The girl who always stays ten steps ahead?" Katherine asked him dubiously, hand on her hip.

"Yep, 'cause-" Silas was cut off by the door opening and the familiar stomp of Damon's boots scuffling towards the wine aisle. They both froze for a moment, then Silas dived for the gap between the two shelves of wine and beer, merging with the shadows, whilst Katherine made a straight beeline for the back room, deliberately throwing her bottle onto the floor. The glass smashed everywhere, creating a loud shattering noise that could not be missed, especially with vampire hearing, and she hid behind a long table, that suspiciously looked as though it had been used for breaks. It didn't take long for Damon to come walking tentatively down towards their aisle, peering round the corner, and staring at the splintered shards of glass scattering the floor with those gorgeous bright blue eyes that she admittedly had missed just a little bit.

Katherine stuck her hand into her crisp packet, then popping a crisp in her mouth and crunching as loudly as possible. She saw Damon, through the gap in the shelf in front of her, straighten in suspicion, and inch towards her. She smirked to herself. This was gonna be fun.

And then Damon turned the corner, finally spotting her, and the look of horror on his face was something she couldn't have even begun to imagine.

"Hello, Damon." She smiled sweetly. His mouth gaped open in shock and wow, she was really enjoying this. She only wished that she had a camera.

"Katherine." Was all he managed to choke out, as he continued to stare at her in an utter mask of resentment, surprise, and anger, and she just absorbed it all, basked in every moment of it. Because this probably wouldn't be happening again anytime soon.

"Miss me?" She smirked as Silas deftly stepped out from behind the shelf, right behind Damon, broken wooden chair leg in hand.

Aah, she smiled again to herself. This was going to be so much. This was what she had been waiting for. Justice would be served. For her daughter, for herself.

And vengeance had never tasted more sweeter on her tongue.

To be continued...

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