It's a little difficult but I did this to myself. Writing 3 stories at the same time. Hng. Feels good man.

Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or its characters.

Chapter 5

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Currency

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"Bonnie, may I interest you in a cup of tea?" The witch watched Lily from the other end of the room, hands clasped behind her back. Lily's unit was an entire floor with walls removed to create larger rooms, the size of her parlor was the size of Bonnie and Caroline's entire living quarters. Lily poured herself a glass of blood from a pack that was sitting in a steaming vase.

"No thanks. You wanted to see me?" Bonnie looked around feeling like she had gone back in time. The furniture looked as if it was over a hundred years old yet in mint condition. The woman surrounded herself in ornate silk curtains, Venetian rugs, and embroidered muslin partitions hiding bookshelves. She knew there was a no compulsion rule but she doubted the rules within the council were followed. It was impossible that all of her belongings could have been 'liberated' from their place of origin out of the goodness of people's hearts.

"I have another request to ask of you."

"With all due respect Lily, from my understanding, you only needed me to assist on runs. My debt is pretty much cleared."

Lily let out an amused laugh. "Relax Bonnie. I only ask that you stay a little longer during our next event in our little town and... that I pick something out for you to wear. I just don't get to see any witches and I like to make sure they are well taken care of. For some reason with all of that power, they are often under-appreciated. We will be celebrating the opening of a linen mill and a construction station. I'm sure your friend would be happy to work management there, she has an eye for color and fabric quality."

Her Gram's favorite quote planted itself in her mind, 'if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk, and if you give him a glass of milk...'. Her grandmother often accused her of being too good of a Samaritan. On the other hand, if Lily ran the settlement as well as she did being the head of the council, there was a chance she could save more lives.

"Do you not want Caroline writing the newsletters? She likes the job she already has. If she wants to change I'll let her decide. As for your offer involving the celebration, I want you to know that I'm very grateful for your generosity but I have nothing I'm able to offer in return." The last thing Bonnie wanted to do was to insult or offend her and her friend's meal ticket and security.

Lily quietly sipped from her glass prolonging the silence to enjoy the sound of the witch's heartbeat pick up. Placing the wine glass on the coffee table, she gave Bonnie a softened look. "I just want to show you my gratitude for your services even when you were unwell. Your loyalty is admirable. There is no catch at all."

The sound of special treatment was beginning to sound good to her the more she stayed in the community, from regular clean clothes to hot meals and fresh water.

"Oh also," Lily opened a jewelry box sitting on her mantle, handing Bonnie a diamond and emerald broach," I'd like your opinion on a few things. Here, this will protect you from spells other witches may cast against you. Some covens have been popping up. They are extremely dangerous and will attack whether you mean harm or not if you enter their territory. We can't risk losing another witch to them." Bonnie cautiously took the piece of jewelry and pinned it to her shirt. As much as she loved her simple clothes, she hated that there were never any pockets. "You really don't have to do all of this."

Lily smiled. "I know. See you tomorrow at eight?"

"Yes." Bonnie turned to leave, praying Lily didn't smell her lie. She didn't want to stand in a room full of vampires and hybrids that looked down on her like she was just some. Deciding to scout cleared areas on patrol for her and Caroline would be difficult but it would be even harder leaving all of those humans behind.

"Oh, this is... this is news. This is big news." Caroline wrote down the total number of a complicated equation she had worked out repeatedly. More of the same notes covered the cork board on the wall she and Bonnie shared in their room. The writing desk she worked on was littered with piles of paper she didn't notice. Sitting back she ran her hands through her blonde locks and stared up at the ceiling, the safety article on the back of her booklets weren't enough.

"360... it should be at least been 360 people on average in this place... not the numbers we have." Sure people came and left and the level of protection was enough to keep peace in and raiders out. Caroline wanted to get to the bottom of people that kept leaving and not coming back and what did they find that made them leave the closest thing normality behind. The fingers in her hair began to scratch at her scalp in frustration. Hearing the door open to their flat, she let out a sigh of frustration. "Bonnie? We need to talk."

Bonnie slammed the door with her elbow and wearily shuffled through the sea of balled up notebook papers littered everywhere. "Yea we do, I can barely see the floor."

Caroline spun around in her new office chair, a gift from Stefan to congratulate her on her hard work to entertain and inform residents with her bi-weekly articles. "I'm serious! Look at this! Look at the numbers Bon, people aren't safe the moment they walk outside. There shouldn't be an average of 70 or 80 or whatever! We should have near 400 on average. We have space! We have the resources. I mean, we're low on ammo and other weapons so I understand everyone can't leave protected and come back safely but we need to do something!"

Bonnie removed her shirt and flopped on the nearby small faux leather couch to remove her boots. For the last few days, Lily had given their flat a few upgrades whether she liked it or not. The talk about the number of human residents needed to be stopped, she didn't want Caroline to get Lily's attention. It could put them both in a compromising position, the conversation had to be pushed in another direction regardless of her own curiosity of the situation.

"Look... I think you could go by the library in the morning, do some research, and write instructions on how to use resources from nature to defend oneself. They probably tried to find what was left of their family or friends to brink back and weren't lucky. We were lucky Care, I had my magic." Standing, Bonnie unzipped her pants and shimmied out of them and tossed her clothes in the hamper in the corner of the living area.

Caroline spun back to her desk and grabbed a fresh notepad and flipped a few pages back. "Okay, DIY spear and hatchets. Caveman weaponry 101." She bit sarcastically. "That should take out raiders and vampires. Yuck."

"You say yuck but your crush is one." Bonnie grabbed a large shirt from their dresser to wear to bed.

"Ha!" Caroline bit her eraser and thought harder. "Maybe almanac updates on possible weather conditions." She hunched over her desk brainstorming, her hair a mess as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm gonna crash after my bath, don't stay up too late Care."

"Yep! Yep."

Bonnie sat on the bathroom toilet in the dark, leaned back, and let out a heavy exhale. She had to leave on a good note, her clothes were already packed and stuffed under the bed. She planned to leave during the event while the community including Caroline was distracted. One by one, candles began to light themselves giving the bathroom a relaxing warm glow. Her body was sore, the fall from the motorcycle would give her some bad bruises on her ribs and thigh that would probably turn every shade of the rainbow.

Getting on her hands and knees, she crawled next to the tub and turned the water on. Bonnie squeezed a few drops from an old bottle of hotel shower gel to make soapy water. Once the water started to foam, she used her magic to make the tub hot to heat the water. She peeled off her underwear and sports bra careful not to pull anything or make a sudden movement to hurt herself. "Some Epsom salt would be nice... I shoulda stopped by the clinic."

The last thing she wanted was to ask for anything from Lily, she was already giving them nearly twice as much as the rations as everyone else. It would be a lie if Bonnie didn't feel grateful for it. The festival tomorrow meant it was her day off, she'd bring some extra rations on her visit to Jo to make up not seeing her for some time.

Damon opened his bathroom door and was greeted with a sight of Katherine having her hair shampooed by her Dali.

"Out." He barked as he shed his dirt-caked clothes. The slender young redhead rolled his eyes and grabbed a towel after climbing out of the shower. Damon looked at himself after completely undressing to check for any cuts that had not completely healed.

Katherine hummed looking at his ass. Her eyes shut as she stood under the water to rinse out the soap.

"Hey." He looked over his shoulder at her. He knew he was going to join her but the feeling of anticipation was not there. Walking out, he moved to his walk-in closet to rummage through his collection of clothes. It was enough to make any fashion critic jealous, the obscene amount of jackets, pants, fur, leather, and feather collared coats. Picking out a pair of loungewear, he returned and hung it on the bathroom door.

"You're not gonna ask me how my day went?" He entered the shower stall reaching for the bottle of shower gel. Katherine turned and took the bottle from him. Squirting a palm full she began to massage the soap into his chest.

"So what did you and saint bleeding-heart do?" Katherine huffed, she was not at all interested but it was better than showering in silence. Her fingers swept down his abdomen and around his waist.

Damon pushed his wet hair out of his face, rubbing at his stubble. "Fell off of my bike, the tire exploded. Poor thing is gonna need paint-"

Her hand curled around his member, tugging like it were a leash. A smile crept across her face as she backed him against the wall. His tongue ran along his bottom lip, his body seemed to have a mind of it's on under her touch. His head was elsewhere, he tried to think straight.

"I shouldn't have taken it. I don't know if the witch blew it out by accident, we were arguing...damn. Kat-"

"Stop talking." The way her fingers moved was unignorable. He grabbed her chin and tilted it up running his tongue along her bottom lip.

"You don't wanna talk?" His breath grew ragged as his erection swelled between her hands.

"We don't talk silly, it's not something we do." Reaching into his mass of dark hair, she pulled him down for a kiss.

Stefan picked off invisible lint from his blazer fidgeting as he anticipated the sound of his alarm. He found himself anxious about Caroline accompanying him to Lily's dinner celebration. Human survivors that celebrated outside were too distracted by the bonfire and grilled food to notice the separate event happening right beneath their noses. Right on time, the grandfather clock from his old home chimed and he gave himself a last once-over in the mirror.

His plan was to pick her up and escort them to the main floor in the council's mansion. Possibly learn more about Caroline's amusing plans to convert the weekly newsletter into the first post-mayhem city magazine. Stefan chuckled exiting his living quarters and knocked on his brother's door to make sure he was somewhat ready. Lily wouldn't start a meeting or any other private gathering without the attendance of the entire council. As much as his older brother loved to make a dramatic entrance, it was making both brothers less and less favorable. Sometimes he wondered if his mother knew or cared how it made them look.

The smell. It hit him like a punch in the nose. He immediately recognized it as one of Katherine's favorite perfumes and... blood. Dali blood. He took a deep breath. Not that he needed it but it was a function he found calming when it came to confronting his arrogant and much stronger brother. Stefan was not weak in general but feeding on animal blood rather than human blood limited pushing his potential when it came to using his vampiric abilities. After no answer, he knocked on it again with his knuckles louder than before. From the other side, Stefan could hear a body slinking down on a couch, an exasperated sigh, and someone that inhaled heavily through a single nostril. No one answered but that never came as a surprise.

"I don't know what you're doing but what I do know is you're not going to embarrass your mother again!" Turning the knob that was left unlocked more than not, he walked in and walked into his brother's lounge. It was drenched in jewel tones and far more decorative than his mother's. The room reeked of heavy perfume and blood. Katherine's Dali was bled nearly dry covered in the spoils of dark red from his neck to his chest. In his palm was outstretched in the air empty. On the floor was a broken perfume bottle.

"Lily says you're late are you coming or not? I gotta pick up Caroline, she's been bugging out since Bonnie disappeared." Katherine was wearing nothing but a pair of lace panties and a tiara. She picked up one of the couch pillows and tossed it at Stefan playfully. He dodged it and averted his eyes. "Steffy-poo, just five more minutes. You can come and take some of that edge off before you go see your 'Carry Sue' or whatever."

Damon tapped his metal straw on the table to make sure there wasn't any white residue on the bottom before doing another line of coke. He was practically nude except for the flamboyant purple satin robe he wore pooling at his feet. Walking across the room, Stefan snatched the straw from Damon and tossed it across the room. As many times as he walked in on the two casually naked, he had grown immune to the awkwardness most outsiders would feel in the same situation.

"Did you not hear me? I need to keep Caroline distracted which means I need to know you're there and the council can keep an eye on you! That witch just left unannounced which means she's not coming back. That means her best friend is not going to take it well. I need to be there when she figures it out!"

Damon stared down at his flask. Kathrine was supposed to meet him at the dinner party but was over an hour late. He assumed she was probably off getting dicked down balls deep by Elijah or Mason. Most likely Mason. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but she wanted to be free and he let her do what she pleased, it was the only reason she stuck around. Gripping the steering wheel of his baby blue Camaro, he ditched the crowd and decided to go on a scavenger hunt. If he was lucky he could bash a couple of skulls in on the way.

It was nightfall when he saw the witch walking down a dirt path, it wasn't hard to sniff her out even with his headlights off.

"Bonnie." The voice sounded like a nervous chuckle. "Fancy meeting you out here."

Turning around she saw a familiar grin, like the cat that caught the canary. Not hiding her annoyance, she faced the heavens and flung her hands in the air. "What do you want?!"

"Woah, easy. We keep starting off on the wrong foot, it's just a coincidence. Honest." He rose three fingers like a boy scout.

Bonnie's brows rose mildly amused. "You're serious." She turned away and made a move to walk off, his foot stepped on the gas. The car swerved into the middle of the path in front of the witch making her jump and scowl.

"Can I just say one thing?" He stuck his index finger up. He knew she would never forgive herself and he'd be back at square one if she left and found out too late.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "This had better be good."

"My mother. The council. What you're walking away from."

Bonnie knew what he meant but wasn't sure what he was getting at. "She runs a tight ship. What's your point?"

Pulling over, he knew someone had to tell her. He wasn't against being the bearer of bad news and sometimes enjoyed it. This was not one of those cases. Something about her made him want to spill his guts. Even when she pretended not to, he knew she would listen. It was in her nature. Bonnie's hand instinctively went for the handle of her blade, ready to send it into his chest, her heart pounding. She had her suspicions and he didn't blame her.

"You wanted to know why the number of people here never increases?" He stopped the car and turned it off, he couldn't look at her.

Bonnie nibbled her bottom lip nodding slowly and thumbed the strap. "Lily. What is she doing?"

"It's bigger than her but she's a big-time player in this whole... thing. Some new world order bullshit."

"I don't understand." Her frows burrowed and her heartbeat accelerated.

"Look... it's- fuck. Goddamnit! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Damon exploded hitting the steering wheel with his fist.

"What? What is it?!" She pulled out her blade looking all around her. Bonnie took deep breaths wondering if he had finally lost his mind. Flinging the door open, he climbed out and slammed it shut. The vampire placed his hands on his hips and began pacing breaking out in a cold sweat. He glanced at her and let out another loud "Fuck!" for good measure. Damon walked to the front of the car and turned around, plopping down on the hood.

"Damon, how drunk are you?"

"It's a fucking operation, Bonnie! She-she's sending 'leftover' people over to the Original's base out in New Orleans! They're farming them like cattle. We catch and deliver, Lily keeps the cream of the crop! Fucking cows!" He was hysterical.

"What?!" Bile rose in Bonnie's throat. There was nothing she hated more than people being taken advantage of.

"They don't want vampires to hide anymore. Lily wanted a witch so bad to make sure every vampire had a chance to day-walk. Any witch that seemed like they wouldn't agree to the cause gets their magic taken away. Whatever works; potions, curses, poisons, anything it takes to keep their power away from them."

"How long has this been going on?! How are you okay with this?"

"I'm not! You think I like this? Surprise! I'm not a total piece of shit witch!"

"How can you not stop them? You? Your brother? And I'm going out on a limb here, possibly friends?"

"Okay, one, ouch I am very likable." He pinched his fingers in the air and closed his eyes theatrically as if he was listening to the finest music.

"Debatable."

"And two, even if we did- and that's a big if because we don't have the means, the ammo, or the numbers. All that would happen is something else would have them replaced! Yea! Another new big bad would just come and take their spot because there would be no competition. No competition for them which means no deal for us. Oh, and a helping of no regulations and staying out of the community that we have been building since the fucking beginning!" He yelled a vein made itself visible in his forehead. "Don't be stupid!"

Bonnie flared her nostrils and marched up to Damon at full speed. She paused at his feet and slammed her palms on either side of his hips shoving her face into his. "Listen to me, bloodsucker. My best friend is in there. She is practically the only family I have left. Caroline deserves a chance at a normal life and I will do everything to make sure that happens. No organization, your mother, or you are gonna stop me."

The intense staredown distracted Damon long enough until he felt the keyring pushed up to the knuckle of his index finger being snatched away. One thing he never let anyone do was touch his car.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm damn sure someone is going to stop you, kid. Don't think so highly of yourself. We both know you can't take on a whole horde and they can't even think! You don't have a plan! You have no allies! A death wish only makes sense if the goal is tangible." He rounded the car after the witch who climbed into the driver's seat.

Bonnie turned her head and gave him the pleasure of enjoying a few seconds of an aneurysm. "I'm a Bennett, we always know another way." She stuck the key into the ignition.

"Fuck!" The vein in his forehead started to grow, his natural form revealing itself as an aneurysm came and went. "Yea, ok? Well, I am all ears. Are you going to tell my mother that, oh I don't know... 'You're being made to do bad stuff. Just don't and have them come through here and take a big shit on our corpses anyway?'- You-you gotta jiggle it! Bon. Jiggle the key!"

"I know how to start a car!" Bonnie yelled back, shaking the keys in her hand.

"You could have fooled me." He couldn't bear to watch her be so heavy-handed with his car after watching her struggle to start it. "Stop, you're gonna break it!" He held his head with one hand leaning into the car.

"Fine! You drive. Your tuna can is ancient anyway."

"Hey! Leave my baby out of this. You're too young to appreciate a classic like her."

Climbing over onto the passenger's side, she ignored his grumbling about scuffing the inside of the car.

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