Damon had done his fair share of torturing, killing, etcetera. But as he drove up to the house where they were keeping Beatrix Mikaelson captive with Stefan and Elena he could honestly say that he had never heard a scream like the one that was coming from inside.

Immediately he threw open the door of the car and saw Stefan do the same while Elena scrambled to keep up. The moment he opened the front door he knew something had gone very, very wrong.

The woman whose home they were in was dead on the ground. Which meant that any vampire could have come into the house. And shit Caroline and Bonnie were not prepared to deal with an attack – one that was likely Kol Mikaelson. He had… fuck, he had practically dared the Original to come after him on the phone, so sure that their location was secure. He should have stayed with them, but Elena had –

Damon was wrenched out of his thoughts when yet another scream rang out from the kitchen. Immediately he entered the kitchen alongside his brother and Elena. The first thought he had was that something like hair was burning, smelling strong enough that he only registered the huge amount of blood on the ground a moment afterwards.

His eyes were immediately drawn to Caroline, who was crouched on the floor and frantically shaking her head back and forth in denial, hysterical and somewhat deranged. Her screaming only stopped when she retched and kneeled over to begin dry-heaving. What the fuck was happening?

When Elena made a sound that – shit, it sounded like her throat had been torn apart – he realized she had discovered what was going on. Following her line of sight, he looked at the kitchen's oven.

Immediately Damon wished that he hadn't. He had one last coherent thought before everyone burst into action.

They had made a mistake, and they were all going to die for it.

Bea felt so incredibly uncomfortable as Niklaus placed her in the passenger seat of a fancy car that had been parked a few miles away. She hadn't passed out or anything, just been so exhausted that she hadn't been able to run herself – meaning she'd been carried.

Rigby always made fun of her for her lack of knowledge when it came to automobiles, but honestly – Bea knew when they were cute, fast, or expensive. She didn't really feel as though she needed to know more than that. From what she could tell, Klaus's car was all three. A second later the hybrid sped around to the driver's side and slid in easily, starting it up immediately.

Before Bea could even begin thinking about what to say, Klaus reached behind them to the backseat and passed her a bag. Opening it apprehensively, Bea couldn't hold back her muttered, "Oh thank the fucking Lord," when she saw that it contained a few blood bags.

Bea tore into them without an ounce of shame, nearly reminiscent of her time as a newly turned vampire when she had no control over her appetite or feeding. Only a minute later she'd finished off the four containers of blood. Letting out a pleased sigh, she dropped the last bag to her feet and leaned back against the smooth leather of the passenger seat.

The car was silent and Bea noted that Klaus was driving the speed limit – meaning that he most likely wished to spend a longer period of time with her in his car than necessary. Bea briefly pondered whether or not she should throw herself from the vehicle and attempt to flee but quickly disregarded the option. Not only would she get completely fucked up from the impact, but the hybrid could easily capture her.

To her own surprise, Bea was the one to speak first.

"I don't understand why you would help me, but I have my suspicions."

Klaus turned to her and from the edge of her vision Bea could see that he was giving her an assessing look. Though her statement had been a clear invitation for him to rant about whatever his plan was, instead he evenly asked, "And what conclusion have you reached?"

Bea took a few deep breaths in and out and tried to remain calm when she answered, "This is - Kol and I can't ignore that you did this. And it makes me so mad because I -" her voice cracked and she continued after a deep breath "- I hate you. It was harder, when you're the reason I'm still here, but you hurt Kol, so badly. You took him away and laughed about it and -"

Klaus cut off her rambling, which had become more and more hoarse.

"You're right. I'm doing this as... a peace offering of sorts. I could have told Kol where I suspected you were, and instead I came for you alone."

Bea breathed in and out deeply, feeling the smallest bit more secure in the knowledge that evidently Klaus wasn't planning on killing her. She desperately clung on to the notion that Klaus would be bringing her back to Kol, something she wanted more than anything else in the world right now.

"It's smart of you."

She watched Klaus smirk and briefly turn to her as an amused expression covered his face.

"Does that surprise you?"

Bea had to give him that, and shrugged when she responded, "Not really; you have a tactical mind."

It was silent after that, but the silence wasn't exactly awkward - more resigned than anything else. When Klaus spoke once more, Bea was taken off guard by the quiet, even voice that seemed strangely sincere.

"I want to apologize for what happened that night."

Bea froze and clenched her fists tightly, trying to keep them from shaking angrily. He didn't get to do this. She and Kol had a plan, and revenge had been the driving force behind her actions for the last half of a year. They were owed their vengeance, and neither of them had ever wavered in their hatred and anger towards the hybrid. She was strangely enraged that he had saved her. It made everything - it made it so hard. Because Kol was the type of man who wouldn't ever back down if he was angry, but Bea also knew she was the most important thing in the world to him. For her safety - he could very well concede.

"You don't - you can't expect me to accept that. I am not a nice person, so objectively I understand why I was collateral damage when I've replayed that night over and over. But you have been horrible to Kol for the last millennium, and when you found us you knew that he was finally happy. We were happy and you didn't care that you were ruining it for him."

Bea let out a nearly-humorously loud sniffle and she saw Klaus make an aborted reach for the center console before putting his hand back on the wheel. But when she continued to sniff he let out a resigned sigh and fished a small packet of tissues out of the pocket between them. Bea tore into them and blew her nose, noting his flinch, and pettily wished she could blow it again to bother him.

Something suddenly struck her and a loud snarl tore its way out of her throat. Klaus's head whipped towards her and the car jerked slightly to the side as a result of her unexpected outburst, but Bea quickly let him know why she was pissed.

"Those putains de connards stole my fucking purse! My credit cards are in there! They're stolen, but oh my god! The nerve!"

Bea saw Klaus's hands tremble on the wheel but when she stopped her rant to look at him she was surprised to see him lips pressed together tightly as he fought back laughter. When he calmed down, he let out an incredulous snort and spoke in a weirdly fond tone.

"I'm likely the last person you want to hear this from, I'm sure, but you and Kol must be immensely entertaining together."