So it's been a while. Sorry, ladies and gents! My computer died of old age and I ended up taking forever to get a new one because I couldn't find one I liked in my price range.

DammitimmaD : Well, I enjoy writing for Kol, so expect lots more!

Anonymous: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

lilylulurose: Kol definitely has the romantic in him, glad that you noticed! You're not wrong at all! Thanks so much! Sorry this update took so long!

redbudrose: Thanks and glad you're liking it!

For those who have put this story on their favorites alert lists? Thank you! I hope you continue liking the story!

Chapter Six: The Fight In You

"Let him go." Anna's voice was cold and unfeeling. "NOW."

"I think not. He and I should play a little game, should we not, Gilbert?" Kol was smiling, and his white teeth flashed. "You want to keep her away from me."

"She doesn't want to be near you." Jeremy responded, feeling stupid for saying it since the vampire who had him could easily rip him apart. Yet the words came out anyway. "Obviously."

"Yes, because she lacks memory. Don't you, Ayanna?" He said louder so that she would hear him and know he was addressing her. "But somewhere deep within you, you recognize me." His smile was smug and confident as he turned his gaze on Jeremy. "When she has her memory back, there will be no question of where her loyalties will reside. You see, child, we are bonded by blood and magic. We always have been, always will be. Tell me, Jeremy, do you think you can change that? Do you think she would want you to?"

Jeremy didn't look at Kol then, his eyes went to Anna, who was watching them with a guarded expression.

"I said let him go."

"Oh, let's make a deal then." Kol cooed, and Jeremy could hear the bubbly tone he used. "Make a statement for me, Ana-Bèl. If I think the statement is true, I'll strangle him, if I think the statement is false, I'll rip out his heart." Kol's fingers around his arms tightened and Jeremy stifled a cry, but he could barely contain his fear when he felt Kol nuzzle against his neck, almost like a lover would.

She jumped in front of him, landing perfectly poised and completely calm.

Jeremy's heart was racing, his whole body would have been shaking if Kol hadn't been holding him so tight.

Anna smiled, and it looked just as wolfish as Kol's had looked. "You'll rip out his heart." She stated, staring him down with a triumphant expression. Then she was tearing Kol off of him and then whipping Jeremy across the woods as though he were some child's old rag doll. Apparently she didn't realize with what force she used, because Jeremy found himself airless against a tree trunk, hoping that she didn't bruise his spinal chord. When he was finally able to pay attention, she was already in an air kick, driving Kol to the ground as if she were a drill. He retaliated quickly, taking her ankle, turning it, and her, so that in one quick motion she was in the air and away from him. She propelled herself off a tree trunk, towards him again, missing his torso by a centimeter, bounding off the ground to aim a spinning kick at his head. He deflected it, tried to reverse the attack and grab her, but missed. "Ana-Bèl, there is no need for this quarrel, you succeeded in solving the riddle." He told her as he flipped her over when catching her foot in mid-air. "You were free to take him anywhere."

It was difficult for Jeremy's eyes to even keep up with their quick, almost airborne, battle. He was too stunned to do anything but though, because it was like a dance. He had never seen anything like it outside of sparring matches during his brief stint in Karate (which he failed due to his appalling lack of discipline). They battled but never hurt each other, always missing but just by a little. He had almost missed the fact that Rebekah was in the woods too, watching the display as he was. She wore a disturbing but pleased smile that left him feeling unsettled. Kol tried to grab her, but she ducked, spun out of his way, then grabbed him from behind so that her mouth was next to his ear. "Maybe I just want to fight."

"That's my girl." He easily escaped her grasp, by slamming his head backwards, which she missed, by thrusting herself backwards, having to let go of him to escape the blow.

Then Rebekah did something so shocking that he felt completely dumfounded. She tossed his crossbow, then the ammunition to go with it. In a second she was beside him, her cool lips by his ear. "Look at them, boy." She whispered in a throaty tone, "she needs help."

To Jeremy, it didn't look like she needed anything. This must be what warriors looked like. He thought, mind still numbed from pain and awe. He scrambled to his feet though, and pulled up the crossbow. He could help her, and that was what he should do. Kol was impenetrable, but as far as he knew, Anna could very well be killed by him and perhaps a distraction would allow her to flee. So he aimed, kept a steady hand, listened to his own heart beating until that was his only focus.

A second after he shot; certain of where Kol was going to land as he tossed Anna towards the air, feet positioning themselves for the ground to give him balance and ensure a hit. Something told him that this was not going to end in a fashion that he wanted it to.

The arrow was snatched out of the air, broken in half and Jeremy felt the color drain from his face.

Anna had caught it, mid-air, just a heart-beat away from Kol's chest.

Everything stopped. Anna was looking at her hand like it had betrayed her, then dropping the arrow as though it were a poisonous snake. Kol was smiling at her, as if they were friends.

Then his gaze settled on Rebekah, who looked so incredibly pleased with herself that she resembled a cat who had just eaten a canary. She expected this, Jeremy realized with barely suppressed bitterness. She knew that if I took the shot, Anna would protect, Kol.

The way they had been fighting…now he understood what he was missing, the whole thing had looked synchronized, like they had planned it. But no, that didn't make sense. From the expression of confusion and horror on Anna's face, Jeremy was certain she was being honest about not knowing him. It hadn't been synchronized. She had just instinctively known how he would fight, as he seemed to know what moves she would make. It made him recall a lesson that they had in his Mental and Social Health class about muscle memory and how it was deeper than regular memories.

They were more than friends.

He looked to Anna who was probably coming to this realization herself, she looked to Jeremy, and that was all it took. A breath later he was in the air, higher than he remembered ever being, in a tree branch, than a higher tree branch, then another tree. She was jumping from tree branch to tree branch with him in her arms, his legs hitting the branches because of how much taller he was than her. Nausea and fear rose up in him as she leapt, and he tried to stuff it down by thinking about how much he trusted her…

But he was suddenly questioning that trust, because of how she had saved Kol, how she instinctively saved Kol, like it was as natural as breathing.

He knew so little about her before her time with Mystic Falls, and now…now he knew that she had some sort of closeness with that monster. But how close was she? What was she to him?

When she finally set him down, it was near the witch's house and his unease grew. Why did she bring him here?

"You saved him." Jeremy tried to keep the accusation from his voice, but found it to be impossible. "You know what he is, what he does- and you still saved him." Her eyes looked past him, over his shoulder it seemed, as though she didn't even hear what he was saying to her. "Do you remember?"

"I remember nothing." She said it as though she were spitting and he suddenly felt very badly for what he had just stated. He didn't have time to sputter out an apology though, because she was continuing. "But yes, I caught the arrow, it was reflexive…it was as natural as walking, or talking. It felt right." She walked again over the patted down grass, back and forth, back and forth, "and you…you don't know anything about me, you never did. You fell in love with a stranger. Tell me," she stopped and met his gaze directly, "tell me, did you ever give any thought to that? Did you ever wonder, late at night, if the girl you shared your bed with was a monster? Did you ever wonder how many lives that she, that I, had stolen?"

"Anna, listen-"

"I could have been, you know." She interrupted hastily, sounding agitated and less than rational. "Maybe that's why I saved Kol, maybe he was my partner, Jeremy. Maybe we tortured and killed people together."

He couldn't see it though, as hard as he tried, he just couldn't see Anna torturing someone. Hell, she had set out to use and kill him, but in the end just couldn't do it. "That's not you." He finally got out.

But she was shaking her head, looking troubled. "You don't know that. You couldn't know that. You told me yourself that when I first met up with you, I tricked you. I lied to you. What's to say I never stopped?"

"Anna-"

"And what if he isn't my partner, Jeremy? What if he's my lover and the second my memories come back I run to him- worse, what if I kill you so that it is easier for me to run to him?"

He reached out to her, but she jumped back as though his touch was poison. "Yes. Is that what you want to hear? Yes, I thought about it. How could I not think about it, given you kidnapped my sister? Given what you've done?" His voice was rising as his emotional state heightened. "Anna, you planned to kill me to get revenge on people who had been dead long before I was even born, people I didn't even know! I would be an idiot not to think about what you are capable of." He grasped for her again, and this time caught her off guard; so that his fingers grazed her knuckles before she jerked away. "But I don't care- I don't care if you were Jack the fucking Ripper, Anna. I don't care if your Kol's lover- get it? You make me happy now. I'm happier than I've ever been and it's because of you, it's because you're back. So yeah, I thought about it, then I thought about me. Does that make me a shitty person? Yeah. But tell me, just because I'm a shitty person, does that mean you want to walk away from this?" He stepped toward her, but she didn't look receptive. Her body was tense and her eyes darted over him as though she were a trapped animal. He willed her to believe him, to understand his sincerity. "Anna, please-"

"Why did you forgive me for any of it, Jeremy?"

"I used you too. I wanted to be a vampire so I could chase after Vicki, so I could just…chase after more pain because until I met you, that was really all I was doing. Even when they compelled me to be happy I was still just chasing misery and loneliness." It was almost as if he were discovering this about himself for the first time. "You changed everything for me, Anna."

She said nothing, merely stared at him.

"Please, Anna. Turn it back on. Turn your feelings back on. Please."

"You saw." She whispered, "you saw how I fought him. Jeremy, I did it all on instinct, like a memory I can't grasp. He knew every move before I did, and I knew his. If I remember…if I get my memory back…"

"Then we'll deal with that when the time comes. Fuck tomorrow, Anna. I just want today."

"I want you to have a tomorrow." She told him, and for a moment he thought it was coming from a place of love, that she was turning it back on and showing her feelings. It was impossible though, he knew that. Just like his love for her was, like it had always been, impossible. "And if I stay here, with you, then you won't have a tomorrow, Jeremy. I'll have repaid your every kindness with tragedy and loss."

He grabbed for her arm but she was too quick for him. "Does it matter what I want?"

She shook her head, "Not really. You won't want anything if you're dead. Then your sister will have lost you, and did you want that? Do you want her to lose the rest of her family?"

He had no answer for that, none that he could live with anyway.

"You'll move on," she assured him, "one day I'll just be a bad dream, you know? Give it time."

He shook his head slightly, "That you're wrong about."

She did not respond.

When he blinked, she was gone.

XXX

Her lips were warm, silky and soft. They pressed against Elijah's with a familiarity that stole him for a moment, that allowed him to open his mouth and lean into it. Her fingers slipped into the locks of hair on the back of his head, like they belonged there, like they had been there before and knew all the right places to touch.

He forgot, just for a moment, that it was Elena he was kissing, whom he never kissed before, because the person kissing him did so in such a way that it had to be an old lover, someone who knew just the way he should be kissed.

It was all madness really.

It was her who pulled away, and he opened his eyes to stare into her dark brown ones. There was confusion there, the dazed look of one on drugs.

"Elijah."

She said his name again, but in the breathy way that Elena spoke. She was unmistakably herself, no matter how she had kissed him. Her hand went to her hair, sliding strands of it behind her ear as she blinked a few times, then started to gather her books, as though looking for something to do besides stare at him.

"Elena, what was that?" Elijah asked as the books spilled from her arms onto the ground. He moved to pick them up, but she put a hand in the air to stop him. Elijah found himself shaking his head, then he remembered Stefan and turned to say something to him. "Stefan I-"

But the young vampire was gone, and Elena's head snapped over to look for him. Guilt was written over her features as though she were a cheating spouse who had been caught. Then she shut her eyes tightly, and he saw her shoulders drop forward a little. "Oh no," it came out as little more than a breath of a sound, and he knew it had not been for his ears. Finally she looked up at him, sitting down amongst the mess of library materials on the ground. "He saw that?"

"Elena, I'm sorry."

"For?" She asked, putting a hand on her head, while letting her elbow rest on her knee. "You didn't do anything."

"I should have pulled away- I should have-"

"You were caught off guard." She interjected before he could finish his stammering of his guilt. "The girl who looks like a girl you loved just kissed you out of nowhere." She took her hand from her forehead so that their eyes could meet. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't even know why- I mean, I know why but…" She squinted her eyes in speculation and her brow was furrowed in an expression that revealed thoughtfulness and confusion. "I was dreaming about you."

As she started to climb to her feet, he picked up the books and then finally the travel drive. He handed the last item to her and she immediately, almost instinctively, put it into her pocket without sparing it so much as a glance. "Must have been some dream," he tried with a smile, but his attempt to lighten the mood went nowhere.

"We were in the woods. We were walking," she started past him, moving towards the door of the library as though it were calling to her. She didn't look back at him as she went, but simply continued speaking in a low, preoccupied voice. "I was carrying a basket because I wanted to pick berries."

"Berries." He repeated, falling easily into step beside her.

She nodded as she pushed the door to the library open. "I was…flirting with you, I think; asking you to help teach me to hunt."

He stopped her on the stairs, touching her arm, then taking a step to be beneath her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, "yes, I am."

"And how did I look, Elena?"

She reached out, almost touching a tendril of where his hair had been as a youth with her fingertips before snatching her hand back. There was nothing there now, but the faraway look in her eye told him that she still saw it. "Your hair was longer, with a braid in it." She closed her eyes, and he could have sworn there was the faintest hint of a smile touching those generous lips. "Your shirt was longer too, without sleeves…it looked like animal skin of some kind. Your skin…" there was a slight pitch change in her voice, "it was warm…like…"

"Like a human's." He finished for her, and her eyes snapped open to look into his. "Because Elena, that wasn't some dream…that was a memory. That was Tatia's memory ."

XXX

The awkward silence between them retreated at the sound of knocking on their door. Klaus was out of the room and downstairs in an instant, opening the door to see Bonnie standing there, with a hand on her hip and a scowl on her face. His mood matched her expression, unhappy at the interruption between he and Caroline.

He would be hard-pressed to find another witch to suit his purposes and needs, he knew it would never be Bonnie, she carried the witch's usual uppity personality trait. It was a shame really, because all it meant was that nary a witch would ever reach their potential. "She's upstairs." He glanced towards the stairs, "and she could use a friend right now. Tell her I'll be back later tonight. "

Her eyes lingered on him in distaste before she brushed past him and climbed the stairs, calling out her name.

He was being stupid, letting Caroline talk to a witch that wanted him dead. This was what he always meant when he told Elijah that emotions were weakness.

But he walked out the door anyway, leaving Caroline to her friend.

Mystic Falls always seemed calm and peaceful, a misleading environment for such a town. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks, and walked leisurely down the street, having nowhere to go, no goal to fulfill. His agenda, for the moment was empty, and it would be times like this that would often lead Niklaus into trouble. Boredom for vampires, he thought with a weak smile, ends up being quite the trouble for humans it seems.

He turned down the block toward the main drag of Mystic Falls, where the shops and restaurants hoarded together to create what he used to call a market place. It was funny how things changed so much, yet remained fundamentally the same. He looked up at the night sky and remembered a time when seeing the stars had been so easy, but with the mask of artificial light, those days were gone. He almost longed for the past, letting himself forget about the amenities the present allotted. In the past things had been easier too, the world wasn't s connected, there weren't surveillance cameras everywhere. Technology made it difficult to keep their presence a secret.

The world started to come to life as he drew close to the center of town. A large neon light indicated a one of the seedier bars in Mystic Falls. He passed it and the people standing outside of it smoking, crossing the street and walking up three more blocks while taking in the town and all of its ambiance. He stopped in front of the Mystic Grille. When he walked inside, he scanned the patrons, until his eyes fell on Rebekah.

She was alone, seated at a table with a fruity looking drink and a satisfied little smile on her face. Taking his time to saunter over to her, he thought about all of the times they had sat inside a bar together, all of the lives they had taken together…

"Drinking alone, sweetheart? That isn't like you at all."

She motioned to the seat in front of her, "perhaps I was waiting for you, Nik."

He rolled his eyes, motioned for the waiter with a slight wave of his hand, then leaned back, stretching one arm out and rubbing his forefinger and thumb together thoughtfully. "Where is our dear brother?"

She brushed her blonde mane over her left shoulder, and tilted her head to the side. "Kol likes to keep busy, you know that."

"Oh Beks." He sighed, looking out over the bar at the poor, unfortunate human souls that walked around so blissfully unaware of how short their lives truly were, "you're scheming with the wrong brother. He's completely mad."

"And here you sit," she purred, "the picture of mental health." She sipped her drink through the pink straw then smiled, "I doubt onlookers would share your sentiment, brother. I am siding with the family member who did not lock me in a coffin, after all."

"You would have died. Mikael would have killed you- on what planet did you think that Stefan Salvatore could keep you safe, baby sister? It makes no kind of logical sense whatsoever."

"I'm pretty old, Nik, I don't think I need a big strong man to protect me, you know?" She rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink. "Kol isn't trying to protect me either, he's on a mission. We're on a mission." She gave him a smirk full of mischief, "we're righting a wrong."

"You're in the business of righting wrongs now, sis?"

"Perhaps." She bowed her head slightly to look at him through dark lashes, "or perhaps just righting wrongs against myself and my family."

"I'm your family."

"Yet you bear no resemblance to the brother that I held in such high regard," she told him, her eyes clouding over and darkening with unhappiness, "you barely bat an eyelash at Finn's passing and you attack our other brother, Kol with no regard whatsoever. As for Elijah-"

"Betrayal is what caused all of that. Finn, for instance, was siding with our own mother to end all of us. His death was no tragedy, but one of his own making." Niklaus interrupted haughtily and defensively. "Elijah helped Katerina, when he certainly should not have, and again, I was trying to protect you."

"And I've given you my counter argument, so it seems we stuck, doesn't it? Now if you'll excuse me, I have many things to do and many people to see." She stood up and brushed her hair cheerfully over her shoulder and gave him a smile. "Enjoy your drink, Nik."

He nodded and raised his glass.

XXX

Elena got into the driver's side of her station wagon, and waited for Elijah to get into the passenger's seat. When he did, she turned a little to stare at him. "How could I be having dreams about someone else's memory, Elijah?"

He shrugged at her, "how would I know, Elena? But I know that moment in time. It was real and the only other to know of it was Tatia."

She felt her heart quicken at the idea of her remembering someone else's life. How could it be possible? More importantly, why was it happening? She glanced up at Elijah who was looking straight forward, his face stricken. "Do you think it's a spell? Do you think it's a ghost? Elijah?

He slowly turned his head to look at her, "I…don't know. But we need to start ruling some possibilities out. You're going to need to see Bonnie, and I am going to start asking around about witches. Maybe that will lead to the culprit of who is doing this to you."

Elena nodded vigorously, "that's a good place to start, I mean they seem like the likeliest of scenarios." She let out a breath, "do you think it's Klaus…or Kol?"

"Realistically? It could be either one of them." Elijah tempered, he returned in the vehicle and looked into her brown eyes. "You know it isn't me doing this, right?"

Did she know? She examined his face and considered it. She thought back on how he had betrayed her- and it was always reactionary. Moreover, they were not usually long-term, complicated tales of revenge where he was constantly lying. Her only real fear should be his deciding to turn on her to save his siblings.

Plus he looked genuinely freaked out by the whole thing. It was subtle, because he was Elijah and everything was subtle, but it was there. She saw it in his eyes when she had said his name after they kissed.

"I do." She said truthfully. "But we have to find out who is doing this and there is no way I'm convincing either of the Salvatore brothers to trust you." She slightly shifted her neck muscles and shrugged, "you know it's true."

"So tell them that it's your way or the highway."

"Oh sure," Elena mimicked his calm, reassuring tone. "Because that always works."

"Tell me more about this dream, now." He suggested stiffly, "Maybe it's significant. And was it the first dream you've had like this?"

No. No it wasn't. Suddenly she felt trapped in the vehicle and so she opened the door and stood up, taking in a deep breath of the night air. She shut the door and when she turned around, Elijah was directly in front of her. "When? When was the last dream like this?"

She felt confused about that. Was it last night or the night before? It felt so much sooner than that, but it couldn't be. Right? She hadn't been sleeping because she had been studying. "It has to be last night," Elena replied, "It was of you. You wanted me- her, but I was her so whatever- you wanted her to take her baby and leave with you. You wanted her to run away with you and start your own family." She couldn't take her eyes off of his face as she spoke. It was like a book opening up, allowing her to read parts of him that he almost always kept hidden. She went on, "she wanted to-"

"Tell me." Elijah interrupted, "in the dream? Is it your feelings you feel, or hers?"

Helpless to stop it, Elena cursed the pink she felt in her cheeks. She doubted that he missed the change in her color and how embarrassed she was. "Hers."

She watched as he closed his eyes, lips parting ever so slightly. He quickly opened them again, "and when I asked her if she would go away with me, did she want to?"

How strange a question to ask, she thought at first, but then realized that it wasn't so strange. Sometimes people needed that kind of reassurance. Still, needing it after so long of a time? She finally decided that it was only right to tell him the truth. "She did not leave with you for two reasons, the first was fear of your mother, and the second was her desire to help her own mother."

The muscles around his jaw released themselves, and she saw a part of him relax. "I see."

"Wait- I thought that out of the two of you, Klaus loved her more."

"I understand your implication." He looked forward, away from her and kept his expression carefully neutral, but she saw the struggle in his keeping it, "Elena, those were complicated times, and the idea of love was very different than it is now."

"It didn't seem very different." Elena replied, wondering why Elijah was trying to divert the conversation. He didn't want to talk to her about who loved Tatia more- and she wanted to know why. "It seemed very much like the love in this day and age, actually. So, I find it kind of hard to believe that Klaus could love her more than you did. You seemed pretty in love with her- unless it was all an act?"

He snapped his head up, looking appalled at the very idea of his intentions being anything less than sincere. "She was everything to me."

"So it seemed," Elena agreed, "you were going to abandon your whole family for her." She gave him a little smirk, "I think it would be hard for your brother to top that, Elijah. So tell me, why is it that you really said that Klaus loved her more. What are you hiding?"

"I wish I could," his voice was low and throaty, "but I can't, Elena, I'm sorry."

She glanced at him sideways, "is it something that could hurt the people in my life?"

His head shake showed certainty to her. "No." The word was a little breathy, but the rest of his statement was solid and firm, "It was just a promise that I made. It bears no real relevance to anything going on today."

Was he lying? She wished that she could read his stupid heartbeat, as to even up the power-balance between them. Or, she thought suddenly, she could learn to steady her own pulse. That might work to even up the odds. Was there even a real way for her to do that though?

"I'm going to Caroline's. Something freaky is going on right now, and I need to at least check in so we're all up to speed with what the hell is going on."

"A sound plan." Elijah agreed.

XXX

"Alright," Caroline waved some of the sweet smelling smoke away from her face before starting to clean up the little circle they made on the floor for their privacy spell. "And you're sure it works?"

"You tested it with us, Care, remember?"

"I know it's just," Caroline sighed heavily, "the servants have ears, you know? And more importantly, mouths." She bit down on her lower lip and shrugged, "so I'm a little worried- I mean, all things considered."

"We're good." Bonnie promised, rolling her eyes and then bending down to help Caroline clean up the remains of the spell. She began placing the candles into Bonnie's rather large purse. "So what are all of these things should be considering, Caroline? What exactly are you trying to do with Klaus?"

Caroline turned around and took her friend in, then shook her head. "I don't think you really want to know, Bon."

"I'm afraid I already know what it is," Bonnie responded with a sigh, "and if I'm right, then damn straight I want to know, I need to know, Caroline. How else am I supposed to protect you?" She demanded furiously.

A pool of defiance began to well up inside Caroline at Bonnie's inference. "what is that supposed to mean, Bonnie?"

Her friend stared back at her in disbelief. "You're kidding right?" She looked around the room as if calling on someone else to witness this insanity. "You or Elena end up getting kidnapped, locked up, put in chains or something and I'm the one dragging you all back from the brink of destruction. None of you seem to have any instinct on self-preservation, do you? No. So in sweeps Bonnie with the magical spell," she made a wooshing motion with her arms, "or in rides Bonnie on her white horse, or what can Bonnie lose?"

Caroline objected again, "we would do the same thing for you."

"But you usually don't have to save me, Care. And I'm fine, absolutely fine, with saving you. I love you. You're my best friend. But, c'mon, at least admit that I do it, okay? That way we can skip the drama and just solve the problem right off."

Caroline really listened to what Bonnie was saying, and she realized that the girl was right for the most part, but she wasn't about to let her slide on her own culpability. She took Bonnie's hands in hers, faced her feet directly towards the girl and quirked a brow. "I will, if you admit that you're not always right, and that you don't always do the right thing."

Bonnie jerked her head back, taken aback by Caroline's words. For a moment Bonnie was quiet, as if assessing what Caroline had just said. Caroline was relieved that Bonnie hadn't pulled her hands away, and took it as a sign that maybe she wasn't angry. A small smile started to tug at Bonnie's lips. "You're right. Okay? It's a deal."

Caroline's smile was anything but small, "definitely. Wait, no. Are you going to make Elena say this too. Because I only think it's fa-"

"Yes," sighed Bonnie, "Elena has to say it too."

"Good." It came out a little more huffy than Caroline wanted, but such was after-life. "Then I definitely agree to this."

"So tell me what you're doing, Caroline. Seriously, all of it. I am going to need every detail I can use to talk you out of this."

"It's easy peasy." Caroline prefaced her idea with as she took her hands from Bonnie's and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I made a deal with him. I stay his prisoner, he doesn't hurt the people I love."

"And he agreed to this." Bonnie said slowly, disbelievingly even. "Caroline, I find it really hard to believe that the world's most dangerous man even knows how to care enough not to hurt someone." She sat down next to her, "This is the same guy who daggered his whole family."

"To keep them safe, or from killing him." Caroline pointed out.

"Are you defending him?"

"No!" Caroline exclaimed, cursing her words for coming out wrong and fumbling all over each other. "No. He killed Jenna, he's the devil- I know it. Okay? I'm just saying that he thinks he loves just fine. So if it's not keeping me safe or endangering him, then it's no problem for him to keep the promise. Get it?"

Bonnie's expression was pensive, "but then what? You just stay his prisoner forever?"

"No, no, no." Caroline shook her head vigorously and emphatically. "While I'm here, I play him. I act all googley eyed and starstruck- meanwhile I'm rummaging through his life and looking for weaknesses so I can help you guys beat him."

"And if he catches you? Two seconds later you're dead, Care. He's scary. The witches I met up with while trying to help Ric were terrified of him. Not just scared either, legitimately terrified. If he thinks that you're betraying him, what on earth do you think he'll do to you?"

Unpleasant images of herself (all maimed and broken) passed through her mind at Bonnie's words. "I know the risk that I'm taking, Bon- but I know that the rewards are much greater. And I've totally got this."

"Remember that time when you were supposed to manipulate Elena into breaking up with Stefan? That went well." Bonnie's words weren't meant to hurt and Caroline knew this, but they stung all the same. "Look, I know I'm being mean and selfish here, but I'm doing it because I'm not sure I can survive another loss, Caroline, especially yours. I mean….look at what happened the last time I thought you were gone? I'm part of the reason you're like this." Bonnie gestured to Caroline and looked guiltily to the side, "I'd fall apart if you died, Caroline. I know I couldn't take it. I just- I'd lose it.." She stood up and crossed the room, looking out the window. She looked tired, Caroline realized for the first time. Her shoulders sagged gently forward, head tilted tiredly to the side as she leaned on the wall ever-so-slightly.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry." Caroline said quickly, she moved slowly to her friend, putting a hand on each of Bonnie's shoulder and leaning from behind. "I didn't realize-"

She straightened out a little, "no, I'm sorry. I'm fine, Care…"

"No, you're obviously not okay." Caroline argued. She lightly squeezed Bonnie's shoulders, "and that's okay. We should all be taking turns freaking out here. Right now it's your turn. Next time it's going to be mine, or maybe Elena's."

Bonnie wet her lips and tried to laugh, "yeah. You're right. I just…whatever you do, Caroline, you survive, okay? I don't care what it is you have to do or not do. Get it? I don't care. You just promise me that you'll come back."

"I promise." Caroline told her, "now you promise me the same thing."

Bonnie nodded, "I promise."

"Wait, did you hear that?" Caroline wanted to know, but didn't wait for an answer. Instead she was at the door in a moment and opening it to see a very distraught Elena. "Hey…" It began as a bright greeting, then she noticed that there were tear streaks on her friend's face, "hey, are you alright?"

She nodded, stepping into the house. "Is Klaus here?"

"No, but Elena is. Come on, let's go upstairs." Caroline heard Elena's soft footsteps behind her as they approached the room. When she entered she and Bonnie were immediately embracing, then Caroline found herself in the circle of Elena's arms and Bonnie's arms. "It feels good to have the three of us together."

"Like it's supposed to be," Bonnie agreed with Caroline as they made themselves comfortable in the bedroom.

Bonnie ended up at the foot of the bed, Elena at the head with her back against the wall, and Caroline sat with her body towards them at her favorite part of the room- the vanity. "You came here pretty upset." Caroline said to Elena with concern, "what's going on?"

Elena shook her head, "first let's hear about Ric- I want to talk about that. Is he okay? What exactly is going on there?"

Bonnie looked from one girl to the next and back again, "I wish I had better news, really. He's not getting better- I mean the herbs keep the alter, which is what we're calling is psycho-self, at bay but only for so long. When he sleeps, it's done under lock and key. He's at Stefan's right now."

Elena leaned back onto her hands, "can I help? Is there a plan?"

"Well, we need to find an herbalist. I mean, someone who really knows her stuff. She doesn't even have to be a witch." Bonnie explained, "Lucy and I figure, there has to be one here."

Elena looked pensive, "so how do we find someone like that?"

"Look for a garden?" Caroline joked.

Bonnie started to laugh, then stopped. For a moment she just gaped at Caroline as though she were totally and completely brilliant. "Oh my God, Caroline, you're right. We look for someone who has access to a ton of different plants and herbs on a regular basis." Bonnie clapped her hands together and stood up, "Elena, do you know of anyone like that?"

"Anyone who owns a gardening store? Or farmers?" Elena drew her brows together, "or anyone with a lot of land in general." She looked at Caroline, then Bonnie. "The Fells?"

"The Fells made their fortune off of farms, just like the Lockwoods." Caroline agreed, having spent much of her youth eyeing up the richest families, if only so that she could one day be Miss Mystic Falls. "And they still have a ton of Greenhouses, I remember Logan showing me them when he would babysit me."

"That makes sense, and I will start there." Bonnie shrugged, "we have a step one for my problem. Now onto Caroline's…."

"There isn't much you guys can do there-" Caroline tempered.

Elena put a hand up in interruption. "But there is, Care. We can watch what we say around Klaus. One of us could confront him about not hurting you, leaving town if he really cared about you, junk I think he'll buy."

"That's true." Caroline gasped, "and he might not even catch you lying, Elena- because I think he just might hear what he wants and not question it. This is especially true because, well, he thinks that he's pretty much fantastic."

"And a step for your plan." Bonnie smiled. "Look at this- why don't we always do this? We're coming up with some pretty good solutions, if you ask me."

"Well prepare for a magical challenge," Elena told Bonnie and Caroline in a grim voice, "because I have a doozy of a problem for you both to chew on."

XXX

As Rebekah entered the Lockwood mansion, she began searching the house for Kol, sending up a little prayer to the old Gods, in hope that her brother was in their current residence and not off painting the town red- literally.

After four rooms, yelling his name and swearing that if he didn't come out she was going to kick his ass, she started to watch her hope fade. It was the sixth time she yelled his name when a different face appeared in front of her.

It was a shame that the beautiful face in front of her was one she swore to loathe for at least a few centuries. Nonetheless, Rebekah smiled at Damon, though how friendly it was, she couldn't really say. She gave him a once over, and had to admit that he looked sensationally good. A white T-shirt and… "leather pants?" She balked, completing her observations out loud. "Seriously? That's desperate, Damon. You should trust me, I'm acutely aware of desperate tactics."

"And what am I desperate for?"

"Besides Elena?" She scoffed, "haven't a clue. I'm sure you'll stay for a drink and tell me all about it though." She followed that with an irritated sigh, then gestured to his clothing. "Obviously."

"Well, I'm glad you're learning, anyway." Damon followed her and took a drink from her hand as she poured it for him. She knew he'd like it- who didn't like insanely expensive scotch? "I had been hoping you wouldn't notice what I was doing this time, just like the last."

"You're repellant, you know that?" She asked.

"You've seemed kind of stuck on me, actually." Damon argued, the left side of his mouth quirking upward.

She stared at him in disbelief. "I've had a shit couple of days, and I'm not in the mood to be toyed with again. Okay? So state your case and then, by all means, make an exit before I rip your head from your shoulders." She offered, "deal?"

He stepped back and let his back ease up. "Maybe I just wanted to spend time with you."

"And maybe I'm the pope." Rebekah countered with a roll of the eyes. "Now, you came here with the intent to seduce me. Why? Is it for information on Kol, Klaus, or Elijah?"

"Maybe all of them."

"And why would I betray any of my brothers for a trenchant peasant like you, exactly? Oh, that's right. I wouldn't. Ta-ta!" She waved goodbye to him and opened the door for him to exit the Lockwood mansion.

In truth, she wanted him- and basically hated herself for wanting him. But he didn't need to know that the lust was still there, that she knew that they would be a good match, so she held her shoulders back and kept her expression as one of disgust.

"Well, I tried, right?" He asked with a shameless laugh. He meandered toward the door, looking care-free and not-at-all put off by the fact that she had read his intentions. But as he approached, he leaned toward her, face gently brushing against hers as he put his lips to her ear. "Just remember, whenever you're up for it, and I know you will be, I'm yours for the taking."

She said nothing as he zipped through the door. But as she shut it behind his vanishing figure, her shoulders went forward in relief of his absence.

She wasn't about to fall for this again.

It would be reaching the absurd if she did. Sighing Rebekah started looked at the door that was shut. She had a lot of pent up energy bubbling inside her from being so close to Damon. Maybe a night on the town was what she needed, the feel of someone dancing against her, the thrill of music, and the atmosphere of sex and excitement.

She remembered how different music had been for her as a child, how dancing had meant something else back then.

But even back then, the energy it created was amazing. She was so grateful to still feel it now. Especially when she was so…antsy.

As she started out of the mansion though, Tyler was coming into it. She grabbed his arm and spun him back to the exit of the home. "You're coming dancing with me." She pulled him closer and backed outside, pulling him along with her. He smelled of booze already- so she figured he was up for some fun. "You coming, Tyler?"

"Um…."

"Of course you are. You're not even putting up a fight." She already had him stumbling out the door, dragging him behind her with their hands and fingers linked.

XXX

Elijah nor Elena were home, so when Jeremy made himself a sandwich and went up to his room, the quiet left him unaffected. In fact, the stillness was comforting. It was so seldom like this in his life anymore.

He climbed into his bed and stared at the mirror at the end of his room. How many times had he looked in that mirror? So many. Each time he felt sadder and more alone. Each time he had lost someone else.

He didn't want to lose Anna, not again. Not after the miracle of her return.

The words that she had spoken at him made their mark, just as she intended and had hoped. He was wondering what her past was like, how many lives she had taken, had she just been using him this entire time and a string of other questions that he couldn't possibly answer. It was, quite literally, making his head start to throb with pain. What he wanted most were answers, not for himself though. He loved her regardless. None of it mattered to him. But what if some past secret would take her from him? What then?

Worse, what if she ran away?

A tapping on his window startled him and Jeremy jumped a little before getting out of his bed and peering into the face of his enemy.

Kol Mikaelson.

He smiled and waved, like some child…or demented 1,000 year old vampire.

"Oh come on, open the window. I can't get in due to my lack of invitation- or as I like to think of it your inherent lack of manners. Bad breeding simply cannot be cured."

Jeremy made no movement to open the door. This jerk was someone in Anna's life, an important part in her life? Or had been. But when Jeremy had met her, Kol was nowhere to be seen. Kol was in a coffin and she was making no moves to help him. So how important to her could he possibly be? This didn't answer the most pressing question though, which was; should he open the window?

In a way it was, because a deciding factor is whether or not the vampire at his window could give him answers about Anna, or more to the point, would he give honest ones? Probably not- but the crazies, Jeremy learned, were unpredictable. So what if he did give him answers?

What if…

Jeremy bit down on his lower lip and examined the face of the villain at his window. What if Elijah was wrong and Kol wasn't the villain?

If he opened the window, it wasn't like Kol could get in- otherwise the window would have already been shattered. What would change if he opened it? Nothing. So he walked over and slowly and raised the window. "What is it, Kol?"

"Perhaps I just wanted the pleasure of your company?" He settled on the window seal, back against the frame, leg extended onto a tree branch. He was steady and comfortable seeming in that precarious position. "To get to know you? To discuss matters calmly," he took a deep breath then made a pushing out motion with his hands as he exhaled, "and rationally." He smiled then, "I mean people come to understandings all the time, we're reasonably intelligent men, so we should easily be able to solve this."

"You're right," Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest, "leave town."

Kol laughed, but it was a hollow and ugly sound. "I will just as soon as I have Ana-Bèl."

"You can't just…have her." Jeremy retorted, "she's not something you go out and buy."

For a moment, Kol stared at him blankly, but then broke out into a smile. "Don't you realize we always belong to somebody? We're all bought and paid for, Jeremy. Every last one of us." His eyes went down Jeremy, than up him, "and who owns you, I wonder? Is it Anna? Bonnie? Who bought you? I wonder how much you cost."

Jeremy blinked at that, looking at Kol in dark surprise. "You don't understand-"

"But I do." Kol spread out his hands again, "now it's time to pay up, Jer. It's time for you to do the right thing, and that's help me get her memory back."

"You want to work together to help Anna."

"Of course." Kol raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "did you think I was going to want you dead? That bit in the woods was to get my Ana-Bèl to be close enough to me to remember, to feel something. I never had any intention of harming a hair on your head, Jeremy. In fact, when Anna and I leave town, you are more than welcome to join us. Really."

Jeremy shook his head, "you're lying."

"I'm not." Kol replied easily, almost coaxingly. "I'm not. The only way you wouldn't be able to come is if she didn't want you to. But she does- I can see her attraction to you now too. I mean, you're her type."

Jeremy squinted, then tilted his head to the side. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He motioned up and down towards Jeremy's body. "Cute, dark eyes, artistic…lost." He raised his eyebrows, "with just enough edge to keep it interesting."

"So I'm a dime a dozen?" Jeremy asked wryly, starting to realize Kol's game. He was going to poke at him with pins of doubt. "You're not worried about my place in her life because I will eventually be replaced. You, though? You don't get replaced? Then why…exactly, have you not been around?"

"That's the same question I want answered." Kol recalled caustically, "because I was forced to watch as Niklaus killed her. When I finally escaped his witch's spell, her body was long gone. I tried to torture that information out of him. There was no limit to the pain I inflicted." From the look on his face, Jeremy could tell that Kol savored the memory an discussing it. "He never confessed, and ultimately to end my tormenting him, I had to be daggered." He wrinkled his nose, "all because of fickle witches who don't have a stomach for torture. Believe me when I tell you that they backed the wrong horse." He shook his head in annoyance, "if they hadn't turned on me like the capricious little creatures that they are, there would have been no end to my torturing him. The moral of this story is that you'll never be rid of me. I never give up."

"No matter what she wants," Jeremy replied dryly, "because when she came here, she was in no way looking for you. She was even happy to stay here."

Kol smiled, his teeth glittering in the moonlight. "When she remembers, then she can tell me who I have to rip apart for forcing her away from me." Was his quick and easy retort, "it's the only way she would have left." The stone in his voice left Jeremy without question that Kol truly believed this. But the question Jeremy couldn't help but ask himself was whether or not Kol was right in his faith. "But the reason she stayed away certainly wasn't you. I promise you that. Lovers come and go with Anna- she's had her share. Some of them might have even ended up famous, you know?: Kol shrugged, "so, again, you don't overwhelm me with worry, Jeremy."

Jeremy felt a pause, Kol didn't mind if she had other lovers? Maybe they grew bored after so much time, maybe vampire relationships were actually different than human relationships. But…Stefan didn't seem to adhere to that mindset. He was pretty set on Elena. Then again, Stefan was an a-typical kind of vampire, Damon seemed to be more like all the other of his kind. Maybe vampires didn't settle down. Maybe they all just slept around and had open relationships.

Or maybe Kol wasn't her lover.

He clung to some kind of ridiculous hope that it was the sweet and simple explanation. Just one sentence. Please, came the mental plea, just let it be that they aren't lovers…

"But I overwhelm you, don't I?" Kol asked with a certain satisfaction. "Maybe you don't want her memory found so that you can keep her."

"No." Jeremy shook his head, "I'd do anything to help her."

"That was a queer answer." He stared directly into Jeremy's eyes, and Jeremy couldn't help but feel desperately afraid of the creature outside of his window. It made him feel ashamed too, that he was afraid. His father would have stood up to his threat, as his Uncle John would have, and even as Elena would have- yet here he was, scared shitless. "So…neutral."

Jeremy lifted his chin a notch, "as long as she wants her memory back, I'll help her to get it back. It's up to her to decide."

Kol raised his brows, "how gallant. A true Knight in Shining Delicate Human Flesh." In a flash he was face to face with Jeremy, eyes boring into his. "I am offering you a truce, little boy- your life for her memory. Do you understand?"

Jeremy found himself frozen, his words stuck in his throat. He wanted to say them, wanted to so badly, but Kol's eyes were dark and endless. He'd do it. He'd kill him without a second thought. Finally, Jeremy composed himself well enough to get his thoughts to manifest into the spoken word. "As long as she wants her memory back," Jeremy spat out with venom, "I'll help her get it back."

Kol stepped back, laughing as he did. "Oh, you're funny, mate." He pointed laughing, "not a clever lad, but points for heroics, right? Oh, there's a reader in you, isn't there? You like a good epic tale." Kol winked, "gotta be that protagonist, right? Oh, you're cute, very cute." Kol settled back into his original position, leaning his back against the tree trunk lazily. "So what does that make me, then? Your arch-nemesis? Your villain? And is Anna your damsel in distress?" Kol laughed cheekily before pointing his finger at him and shaking it lightly, "oh…you." He turned around, another throaty chuckle escaping his lips. "You've got this story written all wrong."

"Anna is no damsel, for starters." Jeremy sliced in, "but I appreciate the failed attempt to try and read my mind."

"I'm not reading your mind, I'm reading your face. I'm reading your body movement." Kol clarified, "drawing conclusions from your past actions." He shrugged, "look, it's not your fault that you've got this written all wrong. I mean, how could you get it right? Obviously if you knew all the information, you would be on my side, Jeremy. Because my side is doing everything possible to keep Anna alive; while your side would actively try and kill her if they knew she was alive."

Jeremy stepped backwards, "Klaus?"

"Actually, my brother has already killed her." Kol said darkly, "Niklaus killed her as a human, not knowing my blood was running through her veins. While I have no doubt he would do it all over again, I was referring to Elijah."

"Elijah mentioned your slave." He spat the last word out, "and he regarded her with pity."

"Did he?" Kol raised his brows in surprise. "Then perhaps he doesn't know. But if she resurfaces, Nik will definitely tell Elijah those ugly details."

"Ugly details?"

"Oh yes," Kol nodded, "like how Ayanna got the beloved Tatia sacrificed for our immortality."

"You're trying to tell me that Anna wanted your family to be immortal so badly that she let a girl be sacrificed for it?" Jeremy repeated. Her words from earlier echoed through his mind though, and he suddenly didn't feel so doubtful.

He knew so little about her past.

"I'm not telling you that." Kol replied easily.

"Then what are you telling me?"

He shrugged, "nothing. Anna can tell you all about it when she gets her memory back. My only suggestion is you keep her existence to yourself."

"How do you know I haven't already told someone?" Jeremy asked with an eyebrow raised.

Kol mimicked in a whiny voice, "how do you know I haven't already told someone?" Then shook his head and put to fingers on his forehead in mock frustration. "you silly thing- because she asked you not to."

"How do you know that?" Jeremy was now beginning to feel panic inside his chest.

"Some things," Kol clasped his hands together, "are just…intrinsic to one's true nature, memory or no memory. Ayanna being secretive is one of those things. She's…private."

It was funny, he hadn't noticed her privacy until she returned with no memory, but Kol was right. Anna was a private person, she just hid it under a lot of talking and sarcasm so it wasn't as noticeable that she wasn't telling you things. Jeremy looked at his hands, flexing his own fingers nervously. "I won't say a word to anyone." Jeremy finally promised.

"Finally."

And he was gone.

XXX

Okay, what did you think?