So this chapter got long as well, and got a little confusing at times. I'm really sorry if it seems like it's all thrown together without purpose. The timeline got a little strange for a minute there, but I'm trying to get everything done in a day into the same chapter. Enemies are coming, and a special visit as well. I hope it isn't too difficult to follow. After last nights episode I needed to keep writing this story, but I was really impressed with TVD for the first time in a while last night. I hope you all enjoy.

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I don't own TVD or anything to do with it.

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Chapter 8

...

They couldn't feel him for long, but when the presence lifted they all had smiles on their faces, except for Elena of course, who was still hanging on the edge of the fireplace like a stocking. She was still moving around and still bleeding, so Bonnie took it upon herself to make her whole again. With a quick spell Elena was lifted off of the metal bar, and then Bonnie may have dropped her onto the ground with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

"You couldn't have set me down nicely?" Elena grumbled at Bonnie.

"You have got to be kidding me." Bonnie said with disdain. "Even now you can't see how totally backwards you are."

"Should take it as the gift it was. I was planning to let you bleed out all the way and desiccate for a while. In fact after everything you just pulled, I'm surprised she didn't tear you in half pulling you down from there." Damon added with a supportive look towards Bonnie.

"She's just the shell of a person anyways, wouldn't be much of a loss." Caroline spat.

"Shell of a person? Excuse me?" Elena responded, looking as though she was deeply offended. Her innocent look was too much for all of them, and again it was Caroline to react first.

"You heard me bitch." Caroline scolded as she flashed behind Elena and snapped her neck. Everyone looked at her with some disbelief, but Damon had a look of pride and amazement on his face. Caroline caught his eye and gave him a shrug and a smile before she moved away.

"Alright, enough for now Care. We obviously need to discuss a few things. Without the- well, without her." Stefan suggested implying towards Elena where she now was crumpled on the floor, momentarily dead.

"I say we lock her in the basement for a bit." Caroline suggested impartially.

"Seconded. Good idea little sis. Care to assist me?" Damon responded with a grin at her before he looked to Bonnie to make sure he was doing the best thing. She nodded slightly in response, but her face still filled with disappointment.

"Absolutely." Caroline answered back with a slight grin at Damon's new nickname for her.

…

Alaric had slipped out of the house sometime during the confrontation, and nobody was really sure when. It may have been best if he missed some of it Bonnie figured, but he shouldn't be walking out alone. Caroline and Damon were moving Elena down to the cell in the basement.

"Stefan you should find out where Alaric went. It's not a good idea for anyone to be alone right now. I'm sure he must be dealing with a lot, but he still shouldn't have disappeared." Bonnie delegated to Stefan because she couldn't handle doing anything herself at the moment.

"You are right, I can't hear him anywhere, he must have taken off or something. I will call him and see what happened." Stefan replied quietly.

"Hey." Bonnie called to him as he turned to walk away. "I know this must be tough on you, but that isn't Elena in there. Something has changed in her completely, but you still don't deserve to have her try and use you to get to Damon."

Stefan shook his head to gather his thoughts. "I'm not even really upset for myself. I just can't believe she would do that without a care for your feelings. After everything you have done for her. You don't deserve that either. And neither does Caroline, or Damon. That was a really shitty thing for anyone to pull."

"I can't argue with you there. Hopefully that person down there can find Elena Gilbert someday again. I don't ever want to remember her like this. I never meant for this thing to happen with Damon. I was just so tired of sacrificing everything I wanted for everyone else." Bonnie responded, still trying to blame herself for Elena's issues.

Stefan moved to Bonnie and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to apologize for that. You and Damon obviously have something extremely rare and special. It's her fault only. Remember that."

"Seems my son thinks you and Caroline are pretty rare and special too." She added.

"Seems so." He replied with a smile gracing his lips.

…

After a short discussion with her friends, Caroline made her way with Stefan over to the Original's temporary home. They walked in sync, their minds set on informing the others about their new encounter with Elena. Damon was waiting for the ice queen to wake up and then he was going to have words with her alone. Caroline was hoping to bring back a solution for him before things got too crazy. She was sure there was going to be lingering issues with Klaus and the strange relationship they had, but she was with Stefan now and that was over in her mind. She just hoped it was over in his too, or at least that he could get past it for now.

When they reached the backyard they walked up to where Elijah sat on the patio with Klaus, Hope, and Davina. Camille was reading a book in the hammock across the yard.

"What's with the ink? You two married already?" Klaus quipped, noting the rings on their fingers immediately.

"No, we aren't married, let's just say that's just another thing we don't really know how to explain." Caroline answered flatly, not giving in to his questioning.

"Interesting. So what brings you to our abode? Not that I'm not glad to see you love."

"It's about Elena." Stefan said solemnly and Caroline noticed Elijah shift in his seat and drop his head slightly.

"Oh brother, what have you done now?" Klaus asked toward Elijah. "Let me guess, you undid her compulsion of Damon's memories because she guilt tripped you into it."

"Wait. She has her memories back? Damon is going to flip." Caroline responded, shocked yet again.

"And I'm guessing by the looks on your faces and your reply that things didn't go well. She must have tried to get Damon back, but epically failed and now you lot are finally realizing just how terrible a person she is now. Am I close?" Klaus asked in his prideful tone.

"Terrifyingly close." Stefan answered.

"She tried to get Stefan to take her back so that she could make Damon chase after her all over again. It didn't even matter that they were dating her best friends, she just wanted all the attention back and didn't care who it hurt." Caroline informed them, anger seeping into her voice.

"Wait. She actually tried to break up the relationships of her two best friends, ultimately stealing both guys in the process only to use one of them to get to the other? Wow, that bitch is cold." Davina added with disgust.

"You're telling me." Caroline added with a sigh.

"I didn't think she would ever do anything like this. I must apologize for my part. I knew it could potentially cause problems, but she appealed to my sense of honor and the memories were truly hers. What was I supposed to do? I told her to wait, but she wouldn't have any of it." Elijah finally broke his silence.

Caroline didn't blame him for Elena; she knew that was all her doing, and when she wanted something bad enough, she never relented until she had it.

"I'm guessing that is why she went to you dear brother. I would have never given her what she wanted, especially because I could have told you what would happen." Klaus smugly continued.

"So what do you plan to do about her now?" Davina asked.

"Well that's why we came over. We thought maybe you guys would have an idea?" Caroline answered.

"I suppose we could compel her to forget about the Salvatore brothers, but I'm guessing that would just make things worse. What we could do is just kill her and be done with Elena Gilbert forever," suggested Klaus.

"That's not an option." Stefan replied firmly.

"Pity. Well what about the rest of you, any bright ideas?" The hybrid asked.

"If you let her go, she will probably never stop until she gets Damon back right?" Davina queried.

"That's what most of us think yes. I'm not entirely sure, but when she was turned she had a sire bond to Damon. I don't know if it has anything to do with this obsession she has, but even if it doesn't, she was willing to destroy every friendship she had just to be with him again. Even when he is having a child with his one true soul mate, she still can't see that it's over." Stefan added, obviously in distress with the whole situation.

"Well this is a conundrum. Has Damon told her to get over it?" Elijah asked.

"Of course." Stefan responded quickly.

"Has he told her that the only thing he wants for her is to get over it?" Elijah pressed, obviously wondering if the sire bond still existed.

"You mean test the sire bond again? See if it is still somewhere in her mind?" Caroline asked, with a tiny part of her hopeful that it could be the cause of everything.

"It's just a thought, but yes. If the sire bond still exists, she would listen. If it doesn't, well we should probably figure out a plan of action for that too. It would be nice to have her helping in this fight, but if she is like this, then we can't trust her to have all of our best interests at heart." Elijah added, hopeful to make up for his role in the matter.

Stefan didn't seem to have any hope regarding Elena anymore, so his answers were filled with defeat. "That's what we were thinking. The sire bond route is at least worth a try though, although I'm certain we destroyed that a long time ago. I'm afraid this person is who Elena is now, and that is very sad."

"What if we could find out her real reason for this fixation? Maybe we could tilt her perception a little." Camille asked from the spot she had taken as they were talking.

"What do you mean? Like some kind of spell?" Caroline asked.

Camille gave her a smile in return. "No, I mean therapy. She obviously has attached Damon to something in her mind that's very important, something she absolutely needs. Perhaps we could find that and make her deal with what is truly behind it all."

"That could take months, maybe even years, we don't have that kind of time right now." Stefan pushed for a simpler solution.

"For now we could compel her to simple tasks that take place nowhere close to here. Have her tracked through her phone so we know where she is, and maybe get some useful information out of it." Klaus finally spoke up again.

"I'm not sure if compelling her is the best plan, but she can't stay around here, and we can't just let her loose. She may even turn to help our enemies if she is given the right motivation," added Stefan, informing them all with his words just how far it had gone.

"So we let her run off alone across the world looking for information about our enemies by herself? How will we have any idea what she is doing, or that she didn't put her phone in someone's purse to throw us off?" Caroline defended.

"We send someone with her." Klaus added with a face that usually meant he had all the answers.

"Can we really afford to get rid of anybody else who can help us here?" Stefan asked bluntly.

"Maybe we send someone with her who isn't really much help at all in the fight, but could be very helpful to her mind." Elijah suggested with a look towards Camille.

"You want to send me with her? I don't know if I would be able to leave Hope." Camille answered surprised.

"You might be the only one who can help her love, and I know Hope will miss you as well, but this seems like the best option. We can compel her to always stay near you so she doesn't run off." Klaus answered, not giving her the opportunity to find it as a suggestion.

"For how long?" Camille asked with defeat.

"Until this little conundrum has been dealt with, and if Elena is improving and still needs help afterwards, then she can come join us in New Orleans. The doppelganger would still be protected there with us, and she can also continue to deal with her issues, as Camille will be around. Who knows, maybe she will even move on with her immortal life?" Klaus continued making everyone a little uncomfortable with his kindness.

"Wow, Klaus. You would really do that for us?" Stefan asked taken aback.

"I'd do it for her." Klaus responded looking at Caroline. And there it was. Caroline knew all of this was for her, but that didn't bother her at all. She was all for Klaus being the good guy if it meant she could someday get her true friend back.

"Now, tell me what happened with the rings." Klaus suggested, handing a drink to Caroline and Stefan and motioning for them to sit down. So they informed them all about the encounter with Elena and the appearance of Damon and Bonnie's son.

…

Meanwhile in the cell hidden in the basement of the Salvatore boarding house, Damon and Elena were getting into a pretty heated argument once again.

"Damon this is all your fault! You are the one who lied to me, you are the one who left me." Elena yelled.

"You're right Elena, I left you. You erased your memories and deleted me, yet it's my fault? It's been over for months, why is this such a big deal now?" He asked, wondering what could have possibly brought her to this.

"It's always been a big deal to me, I just thought you would come back eventually. You said you'd always choose me over Bonnie. You said you'd always choose me." Elena finished sobbing into her hands.

"Who told you that?" Damon asked, in a voice as serious as his tone ever gets.

"You told me Damon. Who else?" She answered with a dumfounded look on her face.

"No. Who told you that I said that to you?" He asked again angrily.

"What do you mean, nobody told me. You told me after Bonnie fake died in front of Klaus." Elena defended, hoping to settle him down.

"Yes, but how do you remember that?" He finished staring daggers into her.

"I-" Elena tried to cover the massive slip she just had. "I'm sure somebody must have told me." She lied, but he already knew the truth. He already knew that she had her memories back, and her face just confirmed it even more for him.

"Since when Elena? Klaus or Elijah? Never mind, I know which one. You were just not going to tell us you got your memories back? Do you really think this was the best time?" Damon questioned, his voice growing to a scream near the end.

She was taken back by the anger in his voice, she just wanted him to forgive her and take her back. "Damon, I just had to alright. It was killing me not knowing, and there was an original vampire next door who could give me them back. I need you back Damon, seriously why don't you love me anymore?"

He just looked at her with confusion on his face. "As if I need a reason now. Look who you have become. You just tried to play my brother, by stealing one of your best friend's boyfriends, to get me to chase you again, and by me leaving your other best friend hurt her too. And then after all that we were all just going to go back to all being friends right? Because it's all about Elena."

"No. That's not-. Well, what else was I supposed to do?" She fought, realizing finally that she may have made a mistake.

"Move on Elena. You are supposed to move on. I want you to move on more than anything." He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, hoping above all that he could get her to do what he wanted.

Elena paused for a moment before answering. "I can't."

"You did so wonderfully before when I died." Damon added with a sarcastic tone and grin.

"That was different. I-" She started to defend herself again.

"Always an excuse isn't there Elena? You are about to drive away almost everyone who cares about you in this world, and all you can come up with is excuses."

"I'm not losing anyone. They'll forgive me and so will you. You all love me too much." She responded with utter certainty. It almost frightened him how much she truly believed she was above it all.

"We do Elena, but you are no longer welcome in this house. So pack your shit," he ordered.

"What? Damon you can't be serious. We're about to be attacked. You need me here." She argued.

He almost laughed at her argument. "We are about to be attacked Elena, but I can't have you anywhere near it. I can't trust you and neither can any of them. You are obviously not on our side right now."

"How could you even say that?" She asked with tears once again falling from her eyes.

"It's the truth." He said solemnly before he heard that the other guests had finally arrived to the hallway outside the door. "Anything to add out there?"

Bonnie was the first to walk in and she stopped at Damon's side and grabbed onto his right hand. She stood there for a moment staring at Elena before she spoke.

"If you ever find the real Elena Gilbert inside you somewhere, and figure out how horrible you have been, then come back. But, if you ever come back to us and fake that you are the person we used to love again and try any of this crap, the moment we find out will be your last. Understood?"

Elena was about to speak but thought better of it when she saw the look on Bonnie's face so she simply nodded.

Elena had always figured the ends justified the means in getting Damon back. She didn't feel herself without him around and the thought of an eternity without him made her sick. She hadn't really realized the drastic measures she had taken until she saw Bonnie's face when she walked into the cell.

She had gone and tried to steal her best friend's lover, who she was having a miracle child with. Bonnie had sacrificed so much for Elena; she just assumed she would be able to sacrifice Damon for her too. Never did she think how wrong it was to ask until she saw the face of absolute separation that Bonnie currently wore. Even anger or hatred would have been better than seeing Bonnie feel absolutely indifferent about what Elena had done. She knew then that she had crossed the line; that she had gone past the point of no return. And she never even saw it coming.

"What she said. I wouldn't mind having the real Elena around, but this version of you just makes me sick." Stefan added making his way next to Bonnie and Damon.

Stefan's disgust was much easier to bear, but he also wore detachment in his features. He too had given her up; he no longer cared enough to forgive her.

"You come back trying to cause problems again, or betray us in any way to get revenge for all this, and I will track you down and kill you myself. Got that?" Caroline added when she took her place next to the other three.

Caroline's pure hatred almost shocked her once again. Past detached, she pure loathed Elena now. In some people like Bonnie that would still imply caring, but with Caroline when she made the bump from joking hatred, to pure loathing, things would never be the same again. She had never even loathed Damon after he used her and fed on her.

"I'm with Blondie. You somehow decide in your messed-up head that this is our fault and plot against any of us at all, well I will just hold you while vampire Barbie rips out your heart." Damon wore his disappointment loudly. Elena could sense the anger inside of him and knew when he got like this towards someone, all they had to do was say something stupid.

"You guys would really kill me?" She asked quietly, trying to save herself once more.

"We're letting you go right now. Some of us are just saying if you end up in a position where we have to consider using this cell on you again, well we will just skip the cell." Damon responded for all four of them.

"I think that concludes the festivities don't you? I believe it is my turn to speak with Elena." Elijah said as he made his way into the cell.

"Elijah thank God, you have to help me, they have all gone crazy." Elena pleaded with the Original vampire who always seemed to want to protect her.

"I'm going to try and help you dear, but you must listen to me closely." He added, moving his way until he stood right in front of Elena.

"Wait. You aren't going to compel my memories away are you?" Elena asked, looking intent to fight her way out if she had to.

"Not at all Elena. I'm here to help you." He replied calmly looking into her eyes.

"Okay fine. I believe you." She resigned, obviously the compulsion already taking effect.

…

As soon as Elena had left the house with Elijah, Bonnie felt a little more relaxed. Having Elena around was getting to be a major hassle, and she was thankful that they would no longer have to worry about her selfish antics. She thought about calling her cousin Kayla to see what she had found out, but opted not to seen as they had just spoken the day before.

After Kayla had informed them all of everything she knew about Semper Anima Sodales, she went on a trip to gather more information. Bonnie had been keeping up with her every once in a while ever since she left, but she still hadn't found anything more. It was almost like somebody destroyed everything past the series of legends that all said basically the same thing. Bonnie couldn't help but wonder if there was a specific reason for that, but Kayla insisted she keep on digging, so Bonnie agreed.

Bonnie was feeling a little unnerved after everything that had taken place with Elena. She needed to put her mind to something useful. They have more witches around them now than they had ever before, and Bonnie was intent on using that to their advantage. She knew that Rebekah and Davina were powerful witches, but Bonnie wasn't sure how much damage they would be able to inflict on their enemies, so she thought of a way that would help them all and that would be just as important as fighting.

She gathered a few of her grimoires that she had set aside the night before and headed next door to visit Davina. She knew Rebekah was with Damon, and she was glad that she would be able to meet with them separately about her plan.

…

Davina had become a little restless of late. Sitting around this old house, waiting for a fight that could rock the world. She never fancied herself a warrior witch, especially not for these people. Kol had come to support his family again in the end, and she would honor him with that, but without him things were different again.

These people she was suddenly around were nice to her, but that was probably only for the guilt they felt with Kol dying. Rebekah went through a pretty wicked period where she tried to gain more power to resurrect him, and Davina was shocked by how far she was willing to take it. Klaus had even gone through a few trying times in regards to Kol's resurrection and she could see they all cared about getting him back. If they continued to fail though, Davina promised she would get him back herself if she had to, she wouldn't stop trying.

She was deep in thought when a voice broke through her reverie.

"How are you enjoying your trip to Mystic Falls?" Bonnie asked kindly taking the seat next to Davina.

"It's alright, not much to do really other than prepare for war." Davina responded. "Never really considered myself a warrior."

"I never considered myself one either, until the people I loved were in danger." Bonnie added.

"I'm not sure what I feel for these people. I mean I guess I care about them, but mostly I'm here for Kol. He would be here to help, and I feel like I owe him that."

"I understand what you mean, but I will say this. Risking your life isn't something to be taken lightly. If you are not all in, it will make things more difficult and put you in more danger." Bonnie informed her, hoping to give her a bit of insight into the life she led.

"I don't really want to go out and kill a bunch of people though." Davina replied honestly.

"You know, I actually might have a solution for that. How much knowledge do you have of defensive spells? Barriers? Armor?" Bonnie asked, bringing a smile to Davina's face.

"Not much, but that would be something I would maybe be good at." She responded uncertainly, but elated at the idea of not having to be a fighter.

"I think you will be great at it. I can sense it in you. Better at protecting than killing." Bonnie added with certainty.

"Would you be willing to show me a few things?" Davina asked. "All this practical application is still pretty new to me."

"It's why I'm here. I brought a few grimoires to go through." Bonnie replied before they broke out the books and began going over the contents together.

…

By late that afternoon, reinforcements were gathered in another house a couple blocks down the road and Damon, Rebekah and Haley were explaining the situation to them. Enzo, Kai, Liv, Tyler, and Matt were all seated around the living room waiting to be brought up to speed on the situation.

"We didn't want to bring you all to the boarding house in case there were anyone watching. You are all the backup squad got it? Hopefully we won't need any of you to risk your lives, but I know we all feel better having you around." Damon began, trying to thank them all for being there in his own way.

"You want us to help you, but you won't tell us the reason why?" Tyler asked bluntly.

"I can't tell you everything, some because it's not my secret to share, and some because knowing puts you all in even more danger." Damon answered honestly, not rising to Tyler's attitude.

"Aren't we always in danger?" Matt asked.

"Well yeah pretty much, but trust me, you will find out in due time I promise. For now though it has to be this way. I'll say this much, it's mostly a threat to Bonnie's life, and more, but that's a big part of it." Damon answered, trying to keep them at a distance from the knowledge of his child.

"If it's for Bonnie consider it done." Matt answered firmly.

"Donovan, I'm putting you kind of in charge of this bunch. And Enzo, play nice." Damon added, bringing a look of shock to Matt's face.

"I'm nice most of the time. Well, some of it anyways." Enzo replied sarcastically.

"Who are these two beautiful women?" Kai asked flirtatiously in the direction of Rebekah and Haley.

"Dream on Kai. They both could kill you in a flash." Damon spat.

"I like a girl with a little danger in them." He answered Damon before looking towards the two women again. "I'm Kai by the way. Resident psychopathic Gemini coven leader, but I have been experiencing feelings for a while now, and I would love to have feelings with either of you two."

"And I'm supposed to be the obnoxious flirt." Enzo added. "I can see they are much more interested in me."

"Not happening. Either of you." Rebekah stated simply.

"While I appreciate the compliments boys, you won't be feeling anything but death if you come near me." Hayley added in a cold tone.

"By the way have any of you seen Alaric? Nobody can get a hold of him, and I even called Jo but she hasn't seen him either." Damon asked, obviously worried for his friend.

Everybody looked around and nobody answered. Something was wrong if nobody knew where Ric was.

Damon looked a little flustered and annoyed. "Enzo. Take Kai and try and track down Alaric. If you sense that he's been taken or something, you let me know immediately. Don't try to be the hero. We are up against a lot of muscle, maybe even more than we have ever seen, so be smart."

"Why do I have to go with?" Kai complained.

"Because aren't you some badass warlock? I thought you wanted to make it up to Bonnie?" Damon responded.

"I do, but you could at least send along one of these gorgeous women with." Kai quipped, causing both women to roll their eyes at the same time.

"I actually think they are both unavailable Kai, but I promise to look for a suitable mate for you in the near future." Damon responded, voice drenched in sarcasm.

…

That evening before dinner, Damon and Caroline found themselves sitting on the porch outside while Bonnie and Stefan worked on dinner.

"What are you thinking about Blondie?" Damon asked breaking their silence.

"I think that we never stop dealing with stupid shit." She responded honestly, obviously annoyed by everything.

"Ain't that the truth? Leaving out everything to do with Elena, how are you doing?" Damon asked, trying to be friendly.

"Umm… I'm doing ok I guess." Caroline responded; seeming to be somewhat confused by his concern.

"Come on little sis. You and I are going to basically be family for eternity according to my unborn son, so I think you and I should figure out our dynamic." He suggested with a signature grin.

"Our dynamic? You mean like what kind of friends we are?" She asked curiously, wondering where the conversation was headed.

"Yeah, something like that. See, I'm beginning to think you and I could be really good friends someday, maybe even best friends." He answered with a true smile.

"I don't know Damon, I wouldn't want you to get too close and fall in love with me like you did with Bonnie." Caroline joked, catching Damon off guard enough to make him laugh out loud.

"Wow, excellent. That was actually very sly sister. Who knew you had it in you." He replied after gathering himself from a fit of laughter.

She smiled at his response. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me Damon."

"So tell me." He replied.

"What?" She asked, confused yet again.

"Tell me. Tell me all the things I don't know about you. I think you will find that I'm a great listener. I tend to get sarcastic when things get too deep, but I'm always up for a good conversation. You love my brother, so do I; you love Bonnie, so do I." Damon said before pausing for a moment, thinking over what he wanted to say. "Seems only fitting that I should at least start trying to make up for all the terrible things I did to you. I'd take it all back if I could." He finished honestly, causing Caroline to stutter her speech.

"Damon-" She began before he cut her off.

"You kind of just lost a friend, I was maybe hoping you were looking for a new one, Caroline." He continued, shocking her even more by the use of her real name.

"Wow. I am actually almost speechless." She answered honestly.

"Now, that would really be something." Damon joked before she glared at him. "Sorry."

She shook off the glare and decided to move forward. "I think maybe you already have. Made up for all the terrible things. Even I can see you aren't the same guy anymore. I had forgiven you a while ago; I just really didn't know how to act after I had. I think we're already friends actually, but I don't think best friends will be our dynamic."

"So what do you think will?" He asked curiously, hoping deep down she wouldn't say something like frenemies.

"Honesty?" She asked, wondering if they were close enough to be honest with each other all the time.

"Always." He responded, answering her question hoping that they would always be able to be truthful with one another.

She paused before speaking, gathering her thoughts. "I think your son is right. I think the four of us are family; it's something I just feel inside. I think Brother and Sister is most likely going to be our only option."

He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. "I agree. But there are plenty types of Brother/Sister relationships you know."

"I think if I ever had a brother I would have wanted us to be close. Be able to talk about everything, even the stuff you want nobody else to know. We'd protect each other, care for each other, and have each other's backs. We'd always tell the truth, no matter how much it hurt." She continued before stopping herself, realizing once again that she was talking to Damon Salvatore.

"I'd have wanted a sister who was just like you Blondie. I will do my best to be each of those things." He replied looking her straight in the eyes as he always did when he says something important enough to warrant it.

She smiled back at him before speaking again. "So, Brother, what do you think happens now?"

"I think we deal with what's coming for us." He answered. "I won't rest until they stop coming for him."

"Neither will I." She responded with certainty, and just like that they had common ground and a relationship based on truth, something neither of them would have imagined long ago.

…

That night at dinner in the Original's household, everyone was getting annoyed with Klaus's hidden agenda. They all knew he had something on his mind, another reason they were all here, but he had yet to divulge them of it yet. Rebekah was the first to confront him finally, and the others were intent on the same.

"Nik are you ever going to tell us the other reason you brought us here?" Rebekah asked, diving right in.

"What do you mean love?" He replied innocently.

"You know what she means Niklaus. I am curious myself as to your purpose." Elijah added, not letting him out of it so easily.

"The main reasons we are here are what we have already discussed." Klaus answered, but upon seeing their faces, knew he was cornered. "Oh fine, I'll tell you, but it's not even really a reason, only a wish I suppose."

"A wish?" Hayley asked.

"I suppose you all know a little of the history of the soul mates spell. Well it also has been said that when someone finally finds their true other that there shall be a prince who rights the line. This prince is quite obviously Bonnie's child, he will be immortal, and he will some day find his true soul mate as well. That is if he lives long enough to find her."

"Hope?" Hayley asked curiously.

"Yes, Hope. They are the only two immortal children ever born that we know of, and if he is to be the prince who rights the line, then it only makes sense that Hope be the princess."

"You think its fate Niklaus?" Elijah asked, unsure of his direction.

"I don't know. I think it's more than that. You see the way Bonnie and Damon look at each other do you not?" Klaus defended before they all nodded that indeed they had also seen it. "If I could give my daughter one thing it would be that look. Love. True love."

"That's really sweet Klaus." Hayley added, getting a sarcastic frown in her direction in return.

"Oh shut it. I just mean that I don't think we are just protecting Hope any longer. I think her true soul mate may be right next door. How would I ever forgive myself if he died and she never found it?" Klaus opened up to them yet again.

"What if it isn't really him? They aren't even sure it is a him are they?" Rebekah argued for arguments sake.

"I'm sure it's a boy. As sure as I am of anything. And you are right, maybe it isn't him, but my mind and my heart tell me to protect him. Even the smallest chance they belong together makes me want more than anything to give her that opportunity." Klaus continued, noticing the looks he was getting from his family. He wasn't sure they would understand because he had never really told them that above all what he wanted from this life was true love.

"It does make sense. Two immortal children, that shouldn't naturally exist, of the opposite sex being born within months of each other. I'd say the odds of that happening are beyond unimaginable. Seems fitting given everything." Elijah concluded in support of his brother.

"So we protect both of them. We should tell Damon and Bonnie though. If they knew I'm sure they would see things exactly as we do." Rebekah added with a smile on her face.

"Yes. Why don't Haley and I bring Hope over for a visit?" Klaus concluded looking in Haley's direction. She responded with a nod of her head and a smile graced her lips as well.

Klaus wasn't sure what it all meant, or if it was even the right thing to do, but something in his heart told him that he needed to protect both children, and for once he was listening to what his heart said.

...

I hope you all continue to read and review. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing from you about what you think. There are a group of you that review after nearly every chapter and I want those of you to know how much it means to me. I love that you are into the story and I will hopefully keep updating it quickly.