Hi people. I'm going to apologize in advance: this chapter is not my best. For those of you that keep up on Tumblr, I have had raging migraines all weekend. I'm fairly certain they're just a symptom of a sinus infection, because I get those annually and mine has been very delayed this year. It includes head pain, neck pain, blurry vision, lovely stuff. And I'm sure you're like 'why didn't you just wait?' But here's the thing, these past few chapters have been one of the 'humps' of the story and I desperately needed to get over it.

Also, I slag off on Caroline quite a bit, but I think I also bring it around, so if you're a really big Caro fan watch out for that.

The song I was imagining playing at the rave was "Emergency" by Icona Pop. The other song I used for this chapter was "Fix You" by The Offspring, both for the friends towards Caroline and Kai/Bonnie.

Chapter 7: We'd All Like to Rearrange

"But how did you know it was Bonnie?"

Kai let out an annoyed groan, rolling his head back onto the couch. "Jo. Why?"

His twin's eyebrows raised high and he gestured at Alaric Saltzman with one hand. Josette took one look at Ric, then turned back to Kai. "New game: every time one of your questions could be answered with 'you murdered our family,' I get to hit you."

"Doesn't sound like a very fun game," Kai said, trying to edge away from his sister but very firmly wrapped in the blankets Ric had found in one of the closets. Josette smirked and then whacked him on the arm. "Ow! You're a doctor, aren't you supposed to do no harm?"

Liv, begrudgingly settled in close on his other side to warm him up faster, spoke up. "Does that count? I think that counts. Hit him again, Josie."

Jo looked tempted, but instead just laid her palms on Kai's chilly cheeks. "That's a little better," she said, satisfied, and pulled her hands away. "When's the last time you ate?"

"Um, yesterday?"

"Before or after the twelve pack?" Liv asked, gleefully helpful. Jo's mouth made a small 'O' and she glared disapprovingly at Kai. Kai made a face at the blonde and she grinned widely in response. "I'm betting before. 'Cause he's a dumbass."

Standing in front of them, hands on his hips, Alaric cleared his throat loudly. "How do you know it was Bonnie, Kai?"

"Who else could it be?" Kai asked, irritated both at the question and the interruption. "Liv and I did the spell, we thought of Bonnie, and then I got hypothermia standing in an ancient house with crappy air conditioning in the middle of May. Bonnie was driving through Canada, which is populated entirely by snowflakes, moose, and really bitchy geese. Ergo, she's cold and trapped somewhere, and we need to go help her."

"Ergo, you're jumping to conclusions," Alaric spat back. "You said you didn't actually see anything, you just got cold. How do you know the cold wasn't you catching interference from the Prison World? Also, Jo said that spell was usually reserved for family members. Who's to say you weren't actually reading another member of Gemini Coven by accident? And lastly, why did only you feel it? Liv is fine."

Kai opened his mouth but was too furious to actually make words at that precise moment. He began struggling out of the many layers of cloth covering him to tell Alaric exactly what he thought of his bullshit to his face but Jo laid a warning hand on his arm.

Kai glared at her mutinously but settled back into the cushions. Jo, hand still firmly on his arm, turned to Alaric. "Honey, what you're saying might be true, but what if it's not? What if what Kai felt is real? Are you really willing to risk Bonnie like that?"

"I – no, of course not," Alaric said, frowning. "But we can't trust him, Jo, you know that."

Liv huffed. "This isn't about trusting Kai. This is about Bonnie. And it's not like your opinion matters anyway."

"Olivia," Jo said sharply while Alaric's eyebrows rose in surprise and Kai choked down a chuckle.

"What?" Liv shot back. "It doesn't. He only knows because of you, sis."

Alaric sat down heavily in the couch across from them, rubbing a hand across his brow in frustration. "God, what a mess. You called Damon, right? I'm guessing his the opinion that matters."

"Since he apparently controls everything you guys do," Kai said acidly. "Yeah. He hasn't responded."

"He's the only one with his head on straight," Alaric said, defeated and tired. "Caroline with her mom and Stefan with Caroline and Elena chasing after both of them with fucking Enzo wandering around making everyone's life miserable. God, what a mess."

"I think your boyfriend's broken, Sissy," Kai whispered conspiratorially to Josette. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head, standing up.

"Everything's going to be fine, okay? Caroline will adjust with Stefan's help, and Damon will help Kai rescue Bonnie. Everything's going to be fine. Now I am going to make you some food," she said, pointing at Kai. "Be nice." She left the room and Alaric stood, grabbing up one of Damon's bottles of whiskey and pouring himself a glass.

"We are depending on the mental stability of teenage vampires," Kai said in a slow, dead voice.

"Yep. And if history has taught me anything," Alaric started, then took a huge gulp, wincing as it went down. "We're all doomed."

He finished off the rest of his glass in one huge swig then tossed it down onto the tabletop, watching in spin and waiting until it settled until he spoke again, looking at Kai. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me this? Stupid Luke gave me stupid emotions and now I feel guilty. I want to save her because she needs to be saved, and that's it. That's all of it." Kai demanded, peeling back some of the blankets now that Jo was out of the room if only to make emphatic hand gestures. "Is it even me, or is it actually a Bonnie thing? I mean you guys don't seem to be too concerned. Like ever. Is it so bizarre for someone to want to save her?"

Alaric looked deeply offended for a moment, then his face melted into something sadder and he looked back down at the glass, spinning it round and round. "Bonnie saves us," he said finally. "I guess it's something you never think of. Saving a savior."

"Alright, if we can't find Damon, we'll find Elena," Kai snarled, pacing in front of the fire. Damon hadn't responded to any of their texts and since Josette cleared him thirty minutes ago he had only grown more and more anxious. "Stefan said something about a rave. Probably at Whitmore. Do you know anything about it?"

Liv shook her head when he rounded on her, and then began to pull out her phone. "Tyler probably does. I'll ask him." She stood and left the room, already dialing.

Kai turned to Josie, cuddled up to Alaric on the couch. "Well, thanks for stopping by, Sissy, but this house has a bad history with pregnant ladies. You and Ric probably wanna call it a night."

Jo straightened in her seat, alarmed. "Kai, you need rest. Let the kids sort out their problems tonight and talk to Damon tomorrow."

"Did everyone just collectively space when I mentioned the part where Bonnie is freezing?" Kai said, throwing his hands in the air.

Jo stood, palms facing him. "Okay, and I agree with you. Something has to be done. Just…maybe you should try again. To be sure."

She reached down, picking up a candle inside its tacky wooden holder from the coffee table, and handed it to him while Kai stared at her, dumbfounded. "My lips turned blue, Josie."

"Only because Liv wasn't paying attention," Jo said reassuringly. "If something starts to happen, I'll bring you back. I promise, Kai. If it happens again, you find Damon. If not, you go home and get some sleep."

Kai did agree to deals as a general rule – he liked making them far better – so he simply took the candle from her hands. "You just like to watch me suffer."

"It does have its appeal," Josette agreed, then placed her hands over his. At his raised eyebrows she rolled her eyes. "Just do the spell. I'll be here."

Kai nodded, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He pictured Bonnie Bennett, brave, loyal, patient. "Phesmatos Physium Calva."

His vision went black again, not even the red glow from the fire seeping through his eyelids to provide light. The cold was gone, but he felt – very afraid. Anxious. Lost.

Show me something, he demanded. His sister's hands clenched tight on his, but he ignored her, concentrating on the spell. He was the goddamned leader of the Gemini Coven and a prison world wasn't enough to stop his magic. He could always find Bonnie before, no matter where she went, and he would find her now.

Josie hands were on his shoulders now and there was an enormous pressure building behind his eyes. The fear he felt rattled up his spine and his head tipped back, mouth open, to the ceiling. There was a flash of a glass-strewn floor and a smashed clocked and then he was falling.

Kai hit the couch hard enough to knock the wind out of him. "What the hell?"

Jo was at his side, shoving a blanket into his hands and shoving his hands up to his face. "Tip your head back, your nose is bleeding."

Alaric was standing in front of them; clearly he had been the one who pushed him. He looked anxious. "Did you see her?"

"I wouldn't see her unless she was looking in a mirror," Kai said condescendingly, his head pounding. "But I saw…a floor, and glass, and…a clock? A really old clock, yeah. And she was scared."

Jo and Alaric looked at each other, then back at him, wearing matching expressions of concern. Ugh, Kai thought, dabbing at his nose. Couples.

Liv re-entered the room, phone in hand. "Tyler said he'll drive us to the party." Kai opened his mouth to protest and she raised her hand. "He also said that's the only way you're finding out where it is."

"The fratboy's got a brain," Kai said, surprised. "Will wonders never cease?"

Liv glared, then held the phone to her ear, voice deadpan. "Kai says thank you." Tyler said something in return and Liv smacked a kiss into the receiver before hanging up. "What happened to you?"

"He tried the vision spell again. Pushed himself way too hard," Josette explained. She turned to Kai expectantly. "But the cold's gone, right? You're fine."

"No deal, Sissy," Kai muttered. "She's fucking terrified. How soon will Tyler be here?"

Tyler arrived in thirty minutes, a blonde boy sitting in the passenger side that he graciously ceded to Liv when the Parker siblings came up to the car. He slid into the back opposite Kai.

"Liv said Bonnie might be in trouble?" the blue-eyed boy asked straight away. Kai stopped in the process of putting on his seatbelt.

"Hi," he said slowly. "I'm Kai."

"Kai, this is Matty," Liv offered helpfully. The blonde boy grimaced.

"Matt Donovan. Nice to meet you."

Tyler snorted in derision, starting to drive. "He stabbed Bonnie, left her in the prison world, attacked me, and tried to kill Liv multiple times. Super nice." He met Kai's eyes in the rearview mirror and shrugged. "Just so we're all clear, here."

Matt Donovan turned back to Kai, blue eyes amazingly wide, and Kai rolled his eyes, the name and the face falling into place. Bonnie's Matt, the one she missed so much. Of fucking course. He prepared himself for the onslaught, maybe a punch or two, but Matt's face grew serious and he nodded. "Got it. Psychopath. Can do. Now what about Bonnie?"

Amazing. The whole time Kai had been agonizing over Damon and Elena and their craptacular definition of friendship and here this guy was the whole time. Give Kai an army of Matt Donovans and he'd have Bonnie back within the day.

"Bonnie's been in the prison world too long," Kai explained. "She should've been back a week ago. So I did a spell to check on her, twice. The first time I felt like I was being flash-frozen. The second she was scared out of her mind and I saw broken glass on a wooden floor. She's in danger, and we need to go back to get her."

Matt's hands clenched into fists. "So why haven't you done it?"

"I'm not going alone, buddy. I tried asking Elena and Damon to go with me," Kai responded, palms up in an innocent gesture. "Neither of them trusted me enough."

"Nobody trusts you," Tyler said. Liv took his hand but he ignored her. "You left Bonnie for dead, man. I watched you try to kill Liv."

Kai opened his mouth to respond, but Matt beat him to it. "Who cares if we can trust him or not? It's been almost a year, Tyler. If Bon's in trouble-"

"Fine," Tyler snapped, turning the car a little too hard around the curve of the road. "But we've got to get Caro locked down first, Matt. If she kills someone while her switch is flipped she will lose her freaking mind. Elena's called in the cavalry," he added to Liv.

"I don't know why she won't just leave Caroline alone. It's what Care wanted," Matt grumbled. Kai glanced at him, amused. Luke would've loved this guy.

Tyler smacked his hands against the steering wheel in a quick staccato, obviously irritated. "So Care wanders around for a year, not killing anyone. Sure, okay, except no because this is Caroline. A girl steals her hairdryer in the bathroom one morning so Caro bashes her head into the mirror, leaving it to us to clean up her mess. And she'll look at us and say, 'But I didn't kill her, guys!'"

"So we get the bitchy Barbie's switched turned back on, we can go save the girl who's actually in danger?" Kai summarized snidely.

Matt leaned back in his seat, heaving a tired sigh. "Guess so."

The drive to Whitmore took about an hour and a half – Tyler got them there in just over fifty minutes. "The rave's somewhere on this side of campus," the former werewolf explained as they all climbed out of the car.

"Yeah," Liv said from the other side of the car. "I'm guessing we just follow the flashing lights." When Tyler and Kai came around she was pointed in the direction of an ugly, flat building with lights blinking in time to the distant thumps of music.

They made their way across the grass to the building, Kai feeling an odd nervousness that he couldn't explain and he couldn't fight down. The warehouse was crawling with kids, most of them completely smashed and all so close to each other. His breathing started to pick up, glimpsing the press of bodies from the open door leading in and he slowed down as he tried to control it.

"You okay, man?" Matt Donovan asked, looking back and seeing Kai place each foot in front of the other slowly, staring wide-eyed at the ground. Liv turned worriedly at his words but Kai took a deep breath, waved a hand, and caught up.

"Fine. Let's do this."

They begrudgingly let Liv bat her eyes at the bouncer at the entrance to let them in without student IDs. Inside the music was impossibly loud and seemed to have no discernible melody, just a series of icy beats and low thumps that all the bodies on the floor flung themselves around to.

"We need to find Elena," Matt shouted. "If you see Caroline, just keep walking."

"Stefan's in here, too," Tyler added.

Kai nodded. "And probably Damon."

Liv looked around, going up on her tip-toes to look over the ground. "We should probably split up."

The thought of being alone in a crowd this size made Kai feel light-headed. "Maybe two-and-two? I don't know these people - you do, little sister."

Tyler looked like he wanted to protest, but Matt was already nodding, grabbing at his shoulder. "C'mon, Elena's expecting us anyway. Call us if you need us." He walked to the left, skirting around the edge of the crowd, Tyler angrily in tow and casting baleful looks at Kai over his shoulder before they both disappeared.

Liv was watching him go; Kai touched her arm lightly and jerked his head to the left. "You'll see him in like twenty minutes, let's go."

He let Liv lead the way through the throngs of people. It was so packed in the building that they had to shove their way through the crowds, and every time someone bumped into him his heart jumped. There was too many of them. How did they stand it, the heat and the pressure? The noise of it all?

"Liv?" he called out, but it sounded like his voice was coming from underwater. His sister didn't appear to hear him, blonde head moving back and forth as she scanned the room.

This was ridiculous – he was fine. This is what he wanted. Look at all these people, he thought. You'll never be alone again.

It gave him less comfort than he thought it would. The next person that jostled him he zapped with a small electric spell that sent the boy reeling face-first into a busty brunette's ample cleavage. Her look of disgust and corresponding slap made Kai laugh but the sound was shaky.

"Kai!" Liv called. She had turned back to find him too far away and she rushed to him, grabbing his wrist and leading him on. "Keep up, dumbass!"

Her magic met his and skittered across the surface of his skin, and Kai breathed in it, calming down. He had magic, he had Liv, he had control. He owned this over-crowded tequila soaked hellhole.

They found Stefan first, hovering by one of the miniature bars set all along the outside wall, watching something in the crowd with a worried expression so severe his frown was practically an upside down V. It took a minute to even notice the two people standing just to his left and staring at him expectantly and even longer to focus enough to place who they were.

"Kai…? What are you-" There was a loud cheer from somewhere in the crowd and the vampire's head snapped around, eyes darting back and forth. He apparently didn't find anything too worrisome because he quickly turned back. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Bonnie!" Kai shouted over the music. "We think she's in danger. Of the imminent variety."

Stefan's eyes widened and he glanced from them to the crowd twice before groaning and rubbing his forehead. "Find Damon! He's with Elena at the main bar. I'll try to get Caroline to come with me and then we'll get out of here."

He darted into the crowd before Kai or Liv could contest this plan so the two siblings gave each other dubious looks and identical shrugs then plunged forward, into the crowd and through to the bar. Kai kept his hands firmly on his sister's shoulders as she once again led the way, sending off sparks to anyone who got too close.

Elena Gilbert was perched on the bar, waving off the bartender every time he came by between drink orders to tell her to get down, watching the middle of the crowd like a hawk. "Stefan's with her," she was reporting to Damon, standing by her side, drink in one hand and the other wrapped around one of her crossed legs. "She – ooh, I think she might have just punched him."

"Hey!" Kai announced cheerily, stepping around Liv. Damon and Elena's heads snapped towards him, wearing matching expressions of shock. Couples. "This looks like a fun night out. Drinks, dancing, drama. And don't you two look cozy?"

He eyed Damon's hand on Elena's leg and to his surprise the older vampire removed it, looking uncomfortable. Damon placed his drink on the bar and stood at just the right angle that Elena was mostly blocked from Kai's view. It was impressive and completely see-through. Kai didn't even try to hide his eye-roll.

"What do you want, Kai?"

Liv, who had been knocked into Kai's back repeatedly from where she was standing behind him, wedged herself between her brother and the bar, grabbed Damon's drink, and downed it one gulp. "Dear God, I needed that. Where's my boyfriend?"

Elena tilted backwards so she could be seen. "Tyler's here?"

Liv nodded. "With Matt." Elena sighed as if a great weight had been taken off her and tipped her head onto Damon's shoulder, who patted it comfortingly.

"So disturbing," Kai muttered under his breath.

Damon tilted his head, blue eyes glittering menacingly. "Why are you here?"

"You know how much I love to crash a good party," Kai said, completely deadpan. Damon grimaced. "Oh, and also, your best friend's in trouble. I thought you might want to know."

Elena's head came up so fast Kai swore he heard a crack, but she seemed unfazed, crawling down from her perch to come around Damon's other side. "Bonnie? Bonnie's in trouble? How much?"

"How do you know?" Damon added suspiciously.

Kai opened his mouth to explain when Tyler and Matt finally found them. Tyler had lipstick on his neck and Kai looked down at Liv, grinning when her eyes narrowed and her hair began to lift in the air, buoyed by the stirrings of furious magic.

"She attacked me!" Tyler protested before anyone could say anything. Beside him, Matt nodded solemnly.

"It was not pretty. Where's Caroline?" This last bit was directed at Elena, who had gone in for a hug.

She pulled away and shook her head. "Stefan's watching her. She seems to be keeping her word, but I still don't like it. She could slip at any moment."

"Then we'll snap her neck and throw her in the basement," Damon said sharply. He turned to Kai. "Bonnie?"

"Liv and I did the Patrick Swayze spell to check up on her," Kai explained quickly. "She wasn't at the mansion. We couldn't find her with a locator spell. When we got back we tried a different spell, to see what she was seeing, but all I got was frostbite and some pretty strong terror. There was a vision but it was just a flash."

"I don't understand," Elena said, brow furrowed.

Kai rolled his eyes. "The sensations were coming from Bonnie. She was so cold she was freezing and she was scared. Something's gone wrong."

"We need to go and get her," Matt said firmly. Damon closed his eyes tightly and rubbed his hands over his face while beside him Elena's eyes grew bright with brimming tears.

"Oh, God, I left her over there," she whispered, then looked up at Kai. "You told me but I thought-"

"Pity party later," Kai cut her off. "Rescue mission now."

Suddenly Stefan was at Elena's side, looking half-crazed. "I messed up. I-I…"

"Where's Caroline?" Tyler and Damon demanded at the same time, but it was clear from Stefan's abject despair what had happened.

Kai leaned down to his sister's level. "How have they survived this long?" She watched with detached fascination as Elena finally began to cry while Matt calmed her, Stefan and Tyler began arguing, and Damon ordered two shots, and shrugged at his question.

Damon took one shot, handed the other to Stefan, and forcibly tapped the two glasses together before both brothers threw them back and slammed the glasses down on the bar.

"We go after her. We make sure she's fine. And then this guy," Damon's super-strong grip landed on Kai's shoulder, clenching down so hard Kai barely held back a flinch. "Is taking us to Bonnie. Got it?"

Kai superheated Damon's hand and the vampire whipped it away, hissing. Kai smirked at the group watching him with wary eyes. "No super-complex five stage plan? You guys are learning."

"Where did she go?" Elena asked desperately. Her two best friends slipping out of her grasp seemed to have rapidly dissolved her sanity. Matt placed a hand on her shoulder and she took a deep gulping breath, expression settling on Stefan. "What did you say to her?"

"Something better left unsaid," Stefan answered grimly. "At least for now."

"Caroline's an attention-seeker," Liv piped up. Matt, Stefan, and Elena frowned at her, but she merely shrugged. "Please, it's classic Daddy Issues. She wants a man, and she wants that man to love her more than anyone else in the world – which, with you around, is pretty hard to come by," she added, smiling meanly at Elena. Then she looked at Stefan. "She wanted you to follow her, genius. When she realizes you didn't, she's gonna up the stakes. So, you know – way to go."

"You're very scary," Tyler told his girlfriend with a smile. Liv preened at the compliment.

As if on cue, Stefan's phone began ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out, confused at the screen. "It's Enzo. I don't-"

"Oh, my God," Kai muttered, rolling his head around to ease some of the tension. "Just do something!"

Stefan glared at him as he answered, but his expression quickly morphed from confusion to concern. "Caroline, why do you have Enzo's phone?"

Kai watched Elena, the most expressive of the three, to figure out what was happening. Her face flitted rapidly from befuddlement to terror just as Stefan asked "What the hell are you doing with Sarah?"

Kai glanced down at his sister. "Who the fuck is Sarah?" But Liv's expression matched his own.

Caroline gave Stefan a bit more information then clearly hung up, judging by the way Stefan's head jerked away from the phone to look at the 'Call Ended' screen. "She had Sarah. She's…Damon and I had a distant relation-"

"Uncle Nephew Zach!" Kai guessed, excitedly. "Oh, please tell me it's the pregnant lady's kid."

"It is," Damon answered, voice flat. Kai suppressed a cackle. The sheer insanity of all it was almost enough to override his irritation at yet another speedbump to saving Bonnie.

"She's Zach's daughter? Your niece?" Elena clarified. Stefan, still brooding at Kai's interruption, nodded.

"Where are they?" Matt demanded, steering the conversation back on track.

"At that bar, The Grasshopper," Stefan said. "Look, I think it's better if I went alone."

"No can do, little brother," Damon said, easily but firmly. "Crazy Caroline wants attention, we'll give it to her."

And that is how three vampires, two witches, a werewolf, and a human ended up walking into a bar on a Thursday night. There was a joke in there, but the look on Caroline's face was way funnier than anything Kai could come up with at that moment.

"What. The hell. Is this?" The blonde, pretty vampire bit out through clenched teeth, eyes roving back and forth between the seven of them. "I said I wanted to be left alone!"

She angrily flitted about, mixing up a batch for margaritas, which seemed to gall Liv. "Hey, you're gonna pay for those, right?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, ignoring her. Not the smartest move. The glass she was dipping in salt exploded in her hand and Liv stepped forward, snarling. "Every drink you waste comes of out my paycheck, bitch, so pay up!"

Caroline picked the glass out of her hand idly and then without a word flicked it lightning fast in Liv's direction. Kai barely had time to put up a barrier before Stefan blurred and reappeared at Tyler's side, dumping a barely scratched Liv at his side before turning back to Caroline.

"I'm sorry for what I said, but you don't have to hurt Sarah."

Caroline began laughing and Kai tensed. He was more than happy to just sit back and watch, waiting for these morons to sort out their various drama, but he recognized that laugh. Hell, he invented that laugh. There was a blankness in Caroline's eyes that he could remember looking back at him when he looked in the mirror and for the first time, Kai felt something of what his family must've felt, looking at him. What Bonnie must have seen. It was ugly and alien and when Caroline's eyes skating over him, briefly meeting his, he didn't even feel like a person anymore. Not to this blonde at least. He was just a thing.

He remembered that, before the merge. Staring at people and thinking how very like toys they were. How easily broken. It had been fun.

"Oh, I'm not going to," Caroline finally answered over her giggles. She picked up what must've been Enzo's phone and spoke into it. "Liam, honey, you still there?"

"Hello?!" The boy's voice on the other end was terrified and Elena surged forward, only stopped by Caroline's raised eyebrows. Damon, Kai noticed out of the corner of his eye, began surreptitiously crossing around to her right side, waiting for the moment to strike. Kai began gathering energy to himself, his hair standing on end with static electricity. He could feel Olivia's magic meet his from across the room and twine, the air growing heavy and smelling of ozone.

"Sarah is helping Liam with his surgical skills," Caroline informed the rest of the group. They could hear a girl screaming on the other end of the phone. Kai had to hand to the blonde, it was a pretty nice plan. Gruesome yet clean.

"Where are you, Liam?" Tyler shouted. Caroline darted over, turning the phone off speaker so Liam's answer couldn't be heard, but the vampires already caught whatever he said.

"You take one step out that door and I tell him to saw out her heart!" Caroline threatened when Elena tensed to run. The brunette froze.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Oh, my God, people." He reached a hand out and Enzo's phone went soaring into his hands, catching it neatly. "Never go for the heart straight away. That's like playing Go Fish with the cards facing the other guy.

Caroline's eyes turned red, her pretty mouth carving into a snarl. She was already mid-lunge when Liv and Kai both flung their hands out, halting her in mid-air.

"You're good," Kai told her. "But I'm bored. Hey, Liam, buddy?" He turned the phone on speaker.

"Help me!"

"That's the idea. Don't move, alright? Elena Gilbert's on her way –" Elena nodded and sped off. "And she's gonna come rescue you. It'll be a nice role reversal for her, so really play up the whole damsel in distress thing."

"I – okay?"

"Liam!" Caroline yelled. Kai lowered his hand and she dropped to the floor, but Liv's hand were at the ready to push her away if she made a move. "Listen to me, cut her –"

Kai's hand shot back up and Caroline's neck twisted brutally with a snap that made Matt and Liv jump back in horror. "Don't cut anything, Liam."

"But she told me to!"

"Sure, okay, she told you to," Stefan said. Kai eyed him warily but held the phone in his direction so Liam could hear better. "But she didn't say when. Just try to hold off."

"I don't think I can!"

Kai huffed. "You are going to cut into a very scared, presumably innocent teenage girl. You're telling me you can't fight that?"

There was a deep breath and a shaky exhale. There was a curious sound of metal on metal – probably Liam trying to put down whatever he was going to use to cut Sarah Salvatore. "I – I can try."

Stefan and Damon relaxed simultaneously. Matt crossed over to Caroline's crumpled body, lifting and taking her over to one of the chairs, Tyler joining him after kissing Liv's forehead. Kai passed off the phone to Stefan and went to perch on a table not far from where Caroline sat.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Liv teased him, coming to sit beside him. "I thought you would break her neck straight off the bat."

"I thought about it. Didn't think it would score me many points with the Scooby Gang, though." The two siblings shared a sarcastic smirk and watched. Elena's arrival could be heard over the phone, and after it was done and she'd compelled Liam and Sarah to go home and sleep the night off, she promised Stefan she'd return and hung up.

She was just arriving back when Caroline began stirring again. "What did you do to her?" The Gilbert girl demanded of Kai, but he merely made a face.

Stefan took the seat across from Caroline, Tyler at one shoulder and Matt in between the two vampires, leaning against the table, as Caroline's eyes fluttered open. She saw Stefan and the snarl returned, but Elena and Damon were behind her to hold her in place.

"I know you think you can handle this," Stefan told her softly, quietly. "But you can't."

"I'm fine!" Caroline yelled. "All I needed was space. Why couldn't you just give me that?"

"Because you're dangerous," Elena told her, restraining hand turning into comforting circles. "Even if you don't think you are. And you're going to turn it on one day and it's all going to come back and you don't know how much that will suck, Caroline. We're trying to save you from that."

Caroline wrenched her shoulder away. "I don't need saving!"

"But your best friend does," Kai finally chimed in, launching himself off the table and swaggering towards the group.

Caroline glared at him balefully. "Why are you here?"

"Because I am apparently the only one who still cares about Bonnie Bennett," Kai spat at her. He expected some response but Caroline was beyond caring now. He wondered if this is what Josette saw the night she helped their father throw him in the Prison World. "While you made your friends chase after you because you refused to grow the hell up and deal with it, Bonnie's been trapped in my prison world-"

"That you left her in!" Caroline shouted, struggling against Damon's hold.

Kai shrugged, nodding. "That I left her in. And now I'm trying to save her from. Bonnie's in trouble, and we're all going to pretend we're halfway decent people and go get her out. Including you."

Caroline stilled, eyes glittering dangerously up at him as she smiled and leaned forward. "I want my year."

"You're not getting it," Damon snapped, hand going white-knuckled on Caroline's shoulder. To her credit, she didn't even flinch. Stefan shook his head minutely at his elder brother then placed his hand on Caroline's knee.

"Caroline-"

"No!" she said forcefully. "You bent over backwards for Elena when she turned it off for Jeremy. All I'm asking for is the same courtesy. You can go save Bonnie without me."

"And leave you here to tear up the town," Tyler said derisively. "Not gonna happen."

Kai had reached his limit. He telekinetically pushed Stefan's chair away, and crouched in front of Caroline, grabbing her chin when she wouldn't look at him. "You tried to hurt my sister. Every second I waste on you hurts Bonnie. I suggest you listen." Caroline rolled her eyes and jerked her head, and Kai sent the magical equivalent of about seventy volts through her. "Here's what's gonna happen, Care: We are saving Bonnie, with or without you. I would prefer without, honestly, because you have to be about the shittiest friend in existence. But these people seem to care about you, and I need their help. So I'm going to do them a favor. You are going to grow up. You are going to stop being a raging bitch. You are going to flip the goddamned switch. Or I am going to throw you into the Salvatore basement and seal you in there until you do."

Caroline smiled at him, all fangs. "They'd never let you do that."

Damon chuckled from behind her. "Watch me, Blondie." Caroline's eyes widened and she looked up past Kai to Stefan. Whatever she saw there was almost enough to flip her switch right there, because Kai swore he could see her heart break.

She closed her eyes, breathing in on a choked laugh, and slumped, defeated, into the chair. "I have all these pictures of Bonnie, in our room. But I can't remember what she sounds like. It's gonna be like that, for my mom. But I can't save my mom."

Kai released her face, sighing and placing his arm on her knee to lean his head against it, like they were friends and this was a normal conversation. "I was trapped in a prison world, by myself, for eighteen years. My mother – I loved – but I couldn't remember the color of her eyes after five years. They were just like yours, by the way," he said to Liv, lingering on the edge of the group. She was staring at him wonderingly and Kai realized just how much he was giving away. But this girl, Caroline, she was familiar to him. She was lost and she loved it because being found, being exposed, had given her one too many scars. She wasn't precisely like he had been; she had chosen this, and she actually knew how to be a good person. It probably came naturally to her, when she had her humanity.

But he'd wanted this, what she wanted, when he'd had nothing. All this attention, if only so he could make believe it was control. Or love. He doubted he'd have turned out any different if he'd been given it, but he wasn't Caroline.

"If you stay like this," he told her. "You're going to forget more important things than her voice." He didn't need to spell it out for her; her eyes widened as his words sunk in and Kai stood, satisfied, and walked back to his sister.

Elena took his place, kneeling so her torso was completely against Caroline's legs, her hands on the blonde's arms. "I need you," she whispered to the other girl. "And she needs you. Bonnie's in danger, Care, and she's alone. I'm so sorry, for everything, but please come back to me."

"Do you still love me?" The words sounded odd coming from such a robotic, emotionless voice but he could tell how important the answer was to Caroline.

Elena sounded near tears. "I'll always love you."

"No one's gonna ever love me like that again. I'm never going to feel it again, Elena. If I come back, it'll be gone. Everything's blank now, and it's...so nice. But if I come back, it'll fill right up again. I'll have your love. And yours," she said, looking up at Matt, Tyler and Stefan, who nodded. "And Bonnie's," she added quietly. "But my mom's – it'll just be gone. Just scar tissue. How am I supposed to…"

"You just do," Stefan said quietly. Kai looked at him curiously. Was that all there was to it? Was that the big secret? Was he just supposed to go through life carrying around Luke's legacy like a stone in his chest, weighing him down?

He wasn't sure he was strong enough for that, and it terrified him. Bonnie had been the first person he'd seen in eighteen years, but even then she was so extraordinarily passionate about everything she did; every word she said was with conviction, even when she was scared. She meant it. She meant everything. And it had been beautiful to him, but it had been alien and unreal. He'd wanted to break every piece of her and mold her again in his image just so it didn't hurt to look at her.

Aren't you tired, he'd wanted to ask. Isnt't it exhausting? Come down to the dark with me, Bon, and I'll tell you the secret to surviving a thousand cuts. It's really simple, I swear: you just don't bleed.

But the merge had dragged him up to the light and now he was stuck. Wilting in the sun, if he wanted to keep on with the metaphor, but he had never been very good with those. Up here he loved his sisters. Up here he cared if Bonnie Bennett lived or not. Up here he watched Caroline Forbes turn her switch back on and felt pity for her.

The blonde began crying immediately, falling into Elena's ready arms. Matt and Tyler stepped forward, hovering anxiously over the two girls while Damon dragged Stefan a ways away, whispering in his stricken little brother's ear.

Life was easier in the dark. He knew it, embraced it, developed fucking night vision over the years. He watched the tears and the hugs and the trapped feeling came creeping up on him again, crawling up his spine.

Then his sister's hand clasped his. Briefly, but firmly. He looked down at Liv, smiling slightly at him. "You did good. I didn't know you knew how."

Kai laughed as the feeling receded. "I'm on a learning curve, little sister. Give me a year and I'll be rescuing children from burning orphanages."

Liv snorted. "Only 'cause you're the one the set the fire."

And it occurred to him to be hurt like this, but his sister was still smiling so he let it go. She was probably right anyway.

"Oh, my God, Bonnie!" Caroline said, pulling away from her hug with Tyler and marching over to Kai. "We're going, right? We'll go, Kai, we'll get her back. We'll even tell her you saved her so she doesn't, you know, melt your face off."

"Much obliged," Kai said drily. Then he cleared his throat and looked at Damon expectantly.

The eldest vampire nodded. "We'll meet up tomorrow. How many do you want to take with you?"

"I'm going," Caroline said adamantly. Her guilt was apparently already hitting her.

"I can manage as many as can fit in that circle," Kai told Damon, eyeing Caroline dubiously.

"So, four, at max."

Elena stepped forward. "Care, are you sure you don't want to take a few days. Let it sink in?"

"I'm sorry, what better place is there to process than a prison world without a thousand people constantly calling me to tell me how sorry they are?" Caroline said, rounding on her best friend. Kai had to admit there was a fair point there.

Matt raised his hand. "I'd like to go. I'm only human, but I'm pretty good with the weird."

Kai cocked his head. "This could take a while, you know?"

"I don't care. I'll take time off. As long as we get Bonnie back," Matt answered sincerely. Kai nodded. Caroline he doubted, but this blue-eyed human was one hundred percent on the rescue mission bandwagon.

"Sounds good to me."

He noticed an odd exchange between Elena and Damon and realized the two were silently debating which one of them would go. He decided to be proactive; wandering around with both Caroline and Elena would be a nightmare. "Elena, can I ask you a huge favor?"

She looked at him warily. "…yes?"

"Like I said, it may take a few days, and my dad's still out there. He might try to sink his manipulative claws into my sisters. Or try to kill them. Again. Alaric can't always be with Josette when she's at school, but you can. Mind watching out for her for me?"

The more he thought about it, the more glad he was he had thought of this. Josie wouldn't be able to resist telling their dad about the baby and he would be back in town any day now, ostensibly to congratulate her and give her tips.

Elena looked between him and Damon and sighed resignedly. "Sure, Kai. She'll be fine, I promise."

"So I'll be number four," Damon said, trying and failing to hide his pleased look. "You have plan, O Mega-powerful Coven Leader?"

"The plan is save Bonnie," Kai said. When Damon grimaced, he grinned. "Don't worry, there's some extra stuff in there. I'll explain it all tomorrow. It's gonna be tough without the full moon, but I can make do with some of the constellations. You'll have to help me get through," he told Liv. "But I can get us back out." She nodded and Kai turned to the group in full, smiling gleefully just to hide how relieved he was that this was finally happening. "So, tomorrow, meet at the Salvatores'. We're going witch hunting!"

OH GOD IT'S DONE.

Sidenote: I watched this season very sporadically, so I have no idea if or when Kai actually did meet Matt and Caroline. If he did, pretend he didn't. Next up we go back to split POVs and Kol and Bonnie try to figure this weirdness out.