(Klaus' PointOfView)

"You let me the heII out of here right now!" I could smell Elijah on the other side of the thick door but he said nothing, and I pounded on the old wood. Those dâmnêd Salvatores shot me and drained my blood, then had the nerve to fill my veins with vervain. Me! "Elijah!"

"It seems you are not as invincible as you thought, Niklaus. When I heard you took Dani prisoner again, I wondered how long it would take until they freed her. But for you to be locked inside this tiny underground room like this...It's like you're not a vampire at all."

"Open the door and find out how weak I am. Just get me the heII out of here so I can go show those Salvatores what they get for doing this to me..."

I heard Elijah chuckling through the door and pounded on it again.

"If you go thundering in there without a single thought, they'll certainly defeat you again. You've almost always been the evil, calculating one; can't you see what blind fury will do to you?" I said nothing, and the latch on the door clanged open.

I pulled the door open and Elijah stood, looking quite smug.

"I am not weak, and those Salvatores won't get away with what they've done. All I have to do is grab one little stake and I can be rid of the both of them in one shot."

"The same goes for you, Niklaus. They took the white oak stake when they rescued Dani. I'm sure they've hidden it somewhere you'll have trouble finding it. So, as I've said, think about your strategy before you go barreling in there unprepared."

"I sired Stefan and Damon's line, they won't risk killing me because it would mean killing themselves as well. I can't be daggered, so I've got nothing to worry about brother."

"Yet you were shot in the head and locked in your own cellar. I believe the term 'irony' would make itself at home here right now." I didn't find Elijah's comment enjoyable.

I sped upstairs to the fridge and found my supply of blood still intact, and immediately devoured a hearty portion of it. Once my veins were

filled with delicious red blood again, I went straight for the door and found my brother Elijah blocking my path.

"Elijah, I suggest you not interfere, unless you wish to become a casualty once again."

"I am not ignorant, Niklaus. As well as having the white ash stake taken, I know the Salvatores have the daggers as well. You have no way to incapacitate me."

"Well, I think breaking your neck ought to keep you down long enough for me to get Dani back...What do you think?" Elijah stepped aside and I said "There's a good brother, using your brain. Perhaps I'll even let you have a small taste of Dani's blood as a reward."

"I'd rather not. You don't yet know what that blood is doing to your body. Because Dani is neither human nor vampire, her blood may be beneficial now, but it may be doing underlying damage you don't yet know about."

"Brother, we are Originals. Indestructible as far as anyone else is concerned. One young woman's blood will do no less damage to me than the hundreds of thousands of other women I've fed on over the 1100 years we've been immortal."

"You say that now..."

Ignoring my brother's idiocy, I went straight out the door.

At the Salvatore's house, the lights were on and I could hear the sounds of them worrying over Dani within.

Knowing they most likely had weapons with them, I knocked on the door and all noise stopped at once. My mouth spread into a small grin as the door opened and Damon stood sentinel behind it.

"Damon, how good it is to see you...I'm here to pick up what's mine, if you'd be so kind as to return it to me." He sneered.

"We don't have anything of yours."

"Oh, but my prisoner is my property...My blood in her system is proof enough of that."

"Dani isn't your property or anyone else's."

"Oh really?" I pushed past Damon into the house. Dani was nowhere to be seen, but I knew she was in the house. I could smell her. "If she isn't anyone's property, then why are you keeping her here instead of allowing her to return to her apartment? I think you intend to try to use her for your benefit instead of allowing her to fulfill her potential."

"And sucking out all her blood and compelling her to be your slave is letting her 'fulfill her potential'? You know you're a hypocrite, right?" I turned from the interior of the house to face Damon again. His face was filled with much contempt.

"You also know I could snap your neck and simply search through this house until I find her, right? But I'll allow her one chance to come to me. Dani!" I spoke up so her less-sensitive ears could hear my voice calling. "This is your one chance to come back to me before I come looking for you...I assure you, it will get very bloody if you make me wait!" I heard no obvious movement and sighed. "Well, I guess I'll be searching now."

I moved towards the stairs and a loud "No!" resounded throughout the house. Dani appeared in one of the bedroom doorways with Stefan behind, failing to stop her from revealing herself.

I sped to her and said "It is a very smart choice to do this...Now I won't have to rip out your friends' hearts."

"I'm not going with you...You fed on me, made me get dressed in front of you, even compelled me to sleep with you!" There was a gasp of shock from Damon, which I studiously ignored. "You're horrible!"

"Yes, I did feed on you, and enjoy the spectacle of you undressing...But I didn't compel you to be intimate with me. You did that of your own free will, love. But you forgot to tell your buddy Stefan that, didn't you?"

Dani's face filled with tears and she ran into another room, slamming the door loudly behind her.

Stefan said angrily "I hope you're satisfied."

"Not really. But, I have none of her blood in my system so I cannot compel her, so it'd just take too much effort to drag her away. I think I'll leave her here for an extra day or two while I recuperate from you shooting me in the back of the head and draining every last drop of my blood." Stefan and Damon stared as I passed them going down the stairs and out the door.

In actuality, I had no desire to leave without her. Instead, I went around to the back of the house and jumped up to the window of the room Dani was in.

Through the window I could see that she had barricaded the door, making my job a lot easier. I stepped in and she jumped off the bed, and I saw how her tears were running down her face.

Dani didn't move or say anything, she simply stood and stared. I stepped forward and she still didn't move.

"Had a change of heart already?"

"No...I just thought I'd try to talk you out of keeping me prisoner."

"And how would that work out?"

"I'll give you my blood." A bit impressed, I sat on the bed to listen to her proposal. "I know the only reason you try to keep me around is to drink my blood, because you think it makes you extra strong...So I'll just drain a little bit of my blood everyday and give it to you, in exchange for not taking me prisoner."

"Or I could simply take your blood by force and compel you into being my slave again." She frowned.

"I want to be able to live a little. I just found out I'm a creature that shouldn't exist, and I'd like to find out more about myself. I can't do that if I'm stuck in your possession."

"How do you intend to find more about yourself? I have infinitely more resources than you."

"I found out I was a half-vampire from Alaric's ghost. I have my connection to the spirit world right there, and I can use my own human connections to find the person I need to. My mother should know how I truly became like this, and what the full extent of my abilities is, since she was the one to give birth to me."

"So you intend to find your mother...Yet you have nothing to go on..."

"I have my father. They were together before she was turned, and for a short time after. I will do this on my own, and if you try to stop me..."

"What? What will you do? Shoot me in the head again?"

"I know where Stefan hid the white oak stake, and I'll use it on you if I have to." I could not hold back the smile from my face. "What, do you think I'm bluffing?"

"I think you're not ready to kill someone. Least of all me, with all we've shared together..." That elicited a reaction from Dani, who took several large steps back. "I know for a fact you won't kill me. I know for a fact you've become attached to me. That is why you did those things with me, and why I'm even here right now. If you really hated me, you would've yelled for your Stefan long ago."

Dani frowned. "Get out. I want to have a peaceful night's sleep, and you're getting in the way of it."

I contemplated staying anyway, but decided against it. Dani would most likely go back on her word of willingly giving me blood if I did, and her deal meant I didn't have to worry about keeping her hidden from Stefan and Damon.

"Alright love, I'll go. But, I'll be back tomorrow for my ration of blood. Don't forget." Her frowning face disappeared from view as I leaped from the window.

When I returned home, I discovered Rebekah waiting outside for me.

"Sister, what could you be doing here? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?" She smirked.

"I came back because you finally let that child go. Do you intend to keep tormenting her, or can we move on to some real issues?"

"Tormenting? She was willing to be with me 100% of the way. I simply needed more time for other things. I will be visiting her quite frequently, though."

"Nik...you're despicable, you know that? First you couldn't stop fixating on Elena, now you're stuck on this little half-breed. You, my brother, need something to occupy you."

"Really? Because Dani is occupying me quite well. Or rather, I'm occupying her." Rebekah looked disgusted and I laughed.

"Have you forgotten about your precious hybrids? They've been running rampant since you decided to ignore them. Perhaps you've forgotten about Kol as well, who is undoubtedly lurking somewhere, waiting for his chance to strike at us."

"My hybrids are doing fine. As for our brother...we will deal with him when he decides to show his face."

"And how do you expect to do that? You haven't got a single one of your daggers."

"I don't need one. I have Dani to help us." Rebekah looked puzzled. "I won't reveal the details now, but I know certain...things about Dani's physiology that I doubt even she herself knows. I can use those things against our brother to detain him, when the time comes."

Rebekah sped away and I entered my empty home.

"It is a bit more lonely without you here Dani..."

Oh well. I'd find something else to occupy my time. Perhaps I'd go and check up on my hybrids. They had been running rampant, and it was time they were reminded I was here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Dani's PointOfView)

"Where's Stefan?" Damon trotted into my room, his customary glass of bourbon in hand, and sat on the edge of my bed. "Hello?"

"He...went out. Which gives me the perfect opportunity to ask you why Klaus was here." I froze. "I'm not an idiot like they are. My room is right next door, and I heard him jump in the window."

"Don't you worry about it Damon...I've got it handled."

"Really? Because you gave us the impression that he was keeping you prisoner. Having him show up here, talking privately in your room...Veeery suspicious."

I sighed. I didn't think Damon would be the one to notice"

"Those two nights ago, when Klaus jumped in the window, he threatened to take me again. I told him I wanted to find out on my own who my mom was, because she might know why I became like this. I begged for him to let me stay, and we made a deal..." This was the part I knew Damon probably wouldn't like. "If I give him some of my blood when he asks for it, he won't try to take me prisoner anymore."

"And you really think Klaus will stick to that deal? Klaus?"

I shrugged. "It was the only thing I could offer him...And I'm still here, aren't I? I'll take whatever I can get that keeps me out of that house..."

Damon surprised me by laughing. "What's so funny Damon? I've been laboring over this for two and a half days and you're laughing?"

"I'm still not convinced. I know you did something with Klaus, and I'm about 89% sure all this is just to cover it up. You don't want anyone to know you had sêx with him...And we all know what that leads to?"

Hesitantly, I asked "Leads to what?"

He slowly whispered "Love." I flinched and shook my head. He smirked and said "I knew it."

"No. He took me prisoner Damon, why would I have any feelings for him? That's insane!"

"It might be, but you're the one that's crushing on him."

I scowled. "Get out." He didn't move and I shouted "Get out!"

Damon got up and left the bedroom chuckling, looking very pleased with himself. I got up and slammed the door shut and locked it, and laid back down on the bed.

Sometime later, I wasn't exactly sure when, there was a knock at my window. I looked over to see none other than Klaus perched there.

I opened it and he swooped in, and I plopped back down on the bed.

"So, how is my little half-breed today?"

"Horrible...I had to tell Damon about our arrangement." I heard Klaus growl under his breath. "I had no choice! He knew you came here the other day, and he would've told Stefan if I didn't give him some kind of explanation."

"Well, I guess I'll be having a few choice words with Damon later...In the meantime..."

I sat up and brushed my hair out of the way. With my time spent with Klaus, I knew he liked to feed from my neck, because that gave out the most blood. I shivered a bit at the thought of knowing his preferences so well.

He knelt down beside me on the bed and I felt the stinging pinch of his fangs piercing my skin, and sucked in a deep breath.

It was over in a few seconds, and when I released my breath, I felt lightheaded.

"Is that all you're taking right now? I can't have you popping in and out multiple times a day..."

Klaus smirked. "I told you love, your blood sustains me infinitely better than a normal human's does. I don't need to take very much before I'm at 100%."

"Fine...Now get outta here before Stefan gets home...I've explained things to Damon, I don't want to have to explain them to him as well..."

"Alright Dani, as you wish." He kissed my forehead and I shuddered a bit, and he disappeared back out of my window.

I went over and shut and locked the windows, just as Damon came upstairs again.

"Stefan's back, and he wants to talk to you." He looked at me oddly.

"Don't give me that look." I pushed past him out of the room as I made my way downstairs.