...

Now

...

Damon was going stir crazy. Truly and absolutely stir crazy.

After having been trapped inside the house with Katherine for a week, without any news about Elena and no way for him to escape and get her, he was about ready to go ballistic. Admittedly, he pretty much did that on a daily basis, with only Stefan being able to sometimes calm him down.

This just couldn't be happening. Katherine taunting him all day, going out and about as she pleased while they had to stay behind, with nothing to do but wait for her return. He had entirely too much time to think about Elena. She was with her family, yes. But that was no consolation. After all, her father was a freakin' torturer. That man looked so harmless. Yet Damon didn't trust him to keep Elena safe.

It was time to do something.

"Bon. Any success?" he asked as he walked over to where she sat, on the floor, in the kitchen, the last spot she and Enzo had been together alone.

She looked up only briefly to acknowledge him, then concentrated back on whatever she was doing. She had tried to explain it to him. Something about that other plane of existence, where she had met her Grams. She was trying to use it to contact Enzo, and through him, Elena, too. Thanks to Katherine's doing, the two were bound to stay with Grayson, which at least also meant they were together.

It gave Damon a strange sense of relief. While he and Enzo had had their troubles, they had always worked it out in the end. Granted, that was mostly thanks to Enzo… Damon smirked to himself, it was not an expression of joy. He wasn't sure he could have forgiven what Enzo had forgiven him. The Englishman was the better man at heart. He was glad, then, that Bonnie had gotten the good kind of "bad" guy.

"Bonnie, come on. Anything?" He was impatient. She gave him a sign to wait, but he didn't want to friggin' wait anymore. "Bon." He drew her name out.

Exasperatedly, she stared up at him. "My goodness, Damon. When will you ever learn to be a little patient?!"

"Never? - Bon. She'll be back any minute. I just need to hear you tell me you found them, or at least, I don't know how this works, 'talked' to them? Give me something. Anything."

"How many times do I have to explain this to you? Katherine put a spell on them. I can't find their location. It's… honestly, I don't even know why she's doing all this. She-"

"To be free of Klaus, finally, and forever." Stefan had entered the kitchen. He was standing close to the doorway, arms folded in front of him.

"Of course Mr. Loverboy here would understand our queen b," Damon taunted, and earned himself a glare. "What? You seem awfully close with her lately. What does Caroline think about that?"

Stefan shrugged. He knew Damon wanted to get under his skin; and he hated to admit that it worked. Caroline was a sore subject. They were all trapped under the same roof, but Caroline was busy trying to make this as easy for her girls as possible and played family with Alaric. There wasn't much time for Stefan in that equation.

He'd turned to Katherine because he wanted to persuade her to finally let them all go. He couldn't deny that he still had sympathy for her. Understanding. But first and foremost, he wanted to watch out for his brother, for his friends. Damon needed Elena. Bonnie needed Enzo.

And Stefan? He didn't know what he needed. It definitely wasn't this.

"Cut it out, Damon."

"I'm just saying…"

Stefan was ready to start an actual fight. Fuses were getting shorter and shorter under the circumstances, and his was no exception. His tolerance for bullshit was nonexistent. But just when he opened his mouth, Bonnie suddenly whispered, "Enzo?"

Both brothers looked at her. She was sitting with her eyes closed, and she was smiling.

…

There was a haze over everything. She had difficulty seeing clearly, but the more she concentrated, the better it got. It was definitely him. Her Enzo.

"Hello, love."

Those must have been her favorite words. She saw his lips curl into a small smile as his features softened.

"Enzo," she whispered. And she ran. She ran until she reached him and he pulled her in for a hug. She clawed the back of his shirt with her hands, just breathing him in for a moment, burying herself against him. Finally, they separated enough for her to touch his face, to really look at him. And to kiss him.

"Bon?"

Damon's voice sounded far away. But it reminded her that she wasn't really here, and that she needed to hurry.

"Are you okay?" She wanted to know, and he nodded. She sighed, relieved. "Elena?"

"She's hanging in there."

"I can't stay very long, Enzo. Just… we are looking for you. We will find you two and we will bring you home. I'll try to contact you again, babe. I love you."

"I love you, Bonnie. Whatever happens, know that because of you it was all worth it."

She felt her heart clench. It sounded like a goodbye of sorts.

"Don't give up. Please. I'll come for you. I'll come."

His smile was the last thing she saw. His beautiful smile, his dark eyes. Then she emerged again and found herself back in the Salvatore kitchen.

"You were with him?" Stefan asked, but Damon pushed past him, and got down on his knees, very close to Bonnie. "What did he say?" he interrogated her, "Is Elena okay? Was she there, too?"

She gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew how he felt, and she hated to disappoint him. She touched his cheek. "I didn't see her, no. But Enzo said she's… hanging in there."

He hung his head, she saw him close his eyes. She could see it battling inside of him, he was a loose cannon these days, he might very well lash out. Instead, he sighed and slowly got up.

"It's time we do something. Katherine needs to-"

"Do tell, Damon. What should I do?"

She was back. Wearing Elena's short black dress. And Damon hated her even more for that. She was playing her stupid games with him. But not anymore, he was ready to-

He couldn't finish his thought, couldn't start doing anything, because right then a loud boom shook the house, startling them all, and Kai strolled in, with a happy half wave.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said cheerfully, "but I heard dear Katherine was in town and I just had to come by to… oh, hi, Bonnie! It's sooo good to see you."

Bonnie glared at him, Katherine stared, and Kai continued smiling.

...

They had all heard the loud sound. The twins had gotten scared, but Alaric and Caroline did their best to tell them that there was nothing to worry about. Again. It had become one of their standard things to say, and Caroline herself had grown tired of it. It didn't convince her. How then, should it convince her daughters?

A week had gone by without a sign from Jo, and she and Ric had started to believe that the girls had never actually seen her after all.

At first, they'd used the news about Jo to lift the mood in the big house, but with every day that passed, it sounded less likely that anyone was out there to help them.

Caroline had felt torn up between trying to be there for her girls, while at the same time helping a devastated Matt deal with his grief, and keep poor Bonnie from endangering herself by challenging Katherine. Everyone knew Bonnie didn't stand a chance against this new enhanced Katherine 2.0. But Bonnie was understandably also very upset.

Just like everyone else.

Except for Stefan. Ugh. The thought of him alone angered Caroline. He was getting a little too cozy with Elena's doppelgänger, and she didn't like it.

She'd stuck to the room she shared with Alaric and the girls, and had tried to make them believe it was just some kind of house camping event, and it all had semi worked to relax the girls, until that stupid booming noise disrupted her little story.

Wordlessly, she and Ric agreed that they'd all stay together, with her waiting right by the door, in case anyone decided to break in.

Still, they weren't prepared when suddenly a voice called from downstairs, asking them very politely to please come down.

"Uncle Kai is here, girls!" the voice went on, "please come on down so that I can finally meet you two little munchkins!"

Caroline looked to Alaric, alarmed. What should they do? They were ready to panic, but suddenly the girls told them, "It's okay, mommy, daddy. He's with mommy Jo."

"Ya? How do you girls know that?" Caroline whispered, grabbing her daughters' hands. They smiled at her.

"He showed us."

But there was no time for her to question any of that as right then, the door flew open and Kai appeared with Jo. Behind them, Caroline caught a glimpse of Katherine, who had wrapped her arms tightly around her waist and looked rather suspicious of the older Gemini twins.

"Hi girls!" Kai said and bent down on his knees next to where Caroline was still sitting with them. She wanted to snatch them away, but Kai shook his head. "Nuh uh, mommy Caroline," he mocked, "we are all friends and family here, right?"

…

Something strange happened then. Those girls… Kai ran a hand each over their heads, and suddenly he felt something. Was that…?

He almost felt regret. Luke was not a part of him anymore, yet he knew he would not be able to hurt these girls. What was wrong with him? He looked over his shoulder to where Jo stood, and Katherine, then back to the twins. Their little honest smiles affected him strangely. He felt… sympathy. These little girls, they were like him. Siphons. In a world where no one understood them and could help them make sense of their powers, they would suffer like him, they would be abandoned and…

No. He couldn't let that happen.

For the first time in forever (or ever?) he felt concern for another human being. And he took responsibility. With a swift movement he turned around to an unsuspecting Katherine and grabbed her by the arms.

"What-" she let out and started to use her magic against him. But he only grinned.

"Sweetheart," he told her, "I'm a siphon. Your super awesome queen of hell or whatever magic doesn't work on me. In fact, I'll happily just absorb it."

And he did.

...

She had planned it all for so long. It had been painful at times. She had suffered, endured all sorts of horrors in oblivion, in hell. But in the end it had been worth it. Or so she had thought.

She had finally been out of hell and free from Klaus, from Arcadius. From any man. She had been ready to start her life anew. After all these years, she had finally just known this was it, her chance; and then that… that man had to come and ruin it all.

Katherine tried to pry off his hands as her skin started to strangely glow under his touch, but something kept her from doing so.

It was as if the magic she conjured up inside of her was immediately sucked right out. And she had no way of holding onto it.

What did it matter if you were the strongest psychic immortal in the world when someone could just come and siphon it all up? It was not fair. She scrunched her face up involuntarily. Tears ran down her face. Shock, sorrow, sadness, regret; it all came washing over her. Because under Kai's fingers, the queen of hell turned back into Katherine Pierce, after having reigned not much more than a week.

…

Caroline couldn't believe this was happening. She felt so betrayed by Jo!

Kai?! How could she have asked him to help with their girls? She of all people should know what bad news that man was. He'd killed her siblings before, then went on to kill her - and her daughters. Their daughters.

Now he was here, in the same room as them, and whatever he did, it made a strange glow emanate from under his hands. He was siphoning. The only thing he knew how to do, and he did it well.

Everyone was suddenly there. People started yelling. Stefan was on his way toward Kai and Katherine, but Damon held him back.

"Damon, let me go. He'll kill her."

"And I honestly don't care if he does, brother," Damon hissed, tightening his grip on the younger. They were both angry, staring at each other.

"Damon," Stefan growled, but just when he made one last attempt to free himself, it was already over. Kai suddenly let go, a triumphant grin on his face. "That was fun," he stated, just as Katherine crumpled to the floor.

Damon looked half apologetically at his brother before letting him go to rush over to Katherine. Then he concentrated on their guest. He felt Bonnie's presence right beside him and he shot her a glance, then casually stepped in front of her, shielding her. She shouldn't get too close to that Parker bastard. He didn't want her to suffer a similar fate as Katherine.

"Bonnie!" Kai beamed. "It's been too long."

She shot a glare at him from behind Damon's shoulder.

"Not long enough," she muttered, and Damon felt her hand on his arm.

"Aw, come on. Didn't you miss me just a little bit?" He made a gesture with his hands, the distance from his thumb to index finger infinitesimal.

"What do you want, Kai?"

The siphon looked at her, then at the others, contemplating. He saw the two girls huddled behind their parents. Well, parents sans Jo. She was still standing off to the side, looking slightly… out of it?

"No thank you? Thank you, Kai, for freeing us of this horrible woman that imprisoned us and-"

"Thank you, Kai," Damon interrupted him, "really, truly thank you. But now I really gotta go and find my girl." He made to leave, but a movement of Kai's hand made him stop.

"Not so fast, Damon. Your girl? As in, Elena? The sleeping beauty?"

"Hate to disappoint, but she's not sleeping anymore." Damon was wary. There was always something Kai wanted. It was just not clear yet what that was and whether he'd be a better or worse opponent than Katherine. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, but for some reason he still did. Could it really get worse than an all powerful Katherine Pierce?

"Huh," Kai had said, honestly intrigued. "How did you manage to break my spell? It wasn't meant to be possible. No loopholes and all."

"Well, our dear Bon Bon has learned some pretty awesome tricks since you last saw her, so..."

Kai actually looked proud. As if this was his doing. "Bonnie Bennett!" he exclaimed. "Good for you! I always knew you were the one for me. Power attracts power, you know?"

"She's off the market," Damon off-handedly commented, pleased to see a flicker of hurt in the other man's eyes. Some things never changed.

Suddenly Bonnie touched his shoulder and very quietly muttered, "I still can't locate them. Something's wrong. Katherine's spell must still be working."

"Aw, didn't you know? Spells that hide someone's location are always bound to the ones they're supposed to keep hidden, not the one casting the spell," Kai explained, then pointed to his ears. "So sorry, I didn't mean to be eavesdropping. Sensitive hearing and all, I couldn't help it."

"Okay. Since you've been listening in, kindly do tell how we can find them then," Bonnie challenged him, but things weren't going to be that easy, of course she knew that.

"I'll try and help you," Kai said nonchalantly. "In return, I want to be a part of my nieces life, and I'm getting some hostile vibes off of these guys over here." He turned to look straight at Caroline and Alaric, then at his sister, who just sighed.

He beamed regardlessly. "It's gonna be so much fun, you guys! Us all as a team!"

Not surprisingly, he was the only one smiling.

...

Later, after Caroline had had a near breakdown, barely holding it together for her girls, she sat on the couch with Alaric, finally back at his place.

The twins were fast asleep, exhausted from the excitement of the last few days, and Caroline knew she was just going to go up there in a few minutes and lay with them.

Kai was back and he'd stolen his way into their lives, because of Jo.

"She tried to help," Ric said. But she could tell it was a halfhearted attempt to defend her.

"I know that, Ric, but I mean, Kai? The one who killed her? She should have known you can't trust him! Now we're left to deal with him. Ugh. I hate this. Everything has been such a mess ever since… you know, Bonnie's blast."

He nodded quietly and ran a hand through his hair. He'd done it a couple of times already.

"It's not like Bonnie had control over what she did. And apparently, her magic was corrupted right away by Cade and Katherine. Hard to say how things would have turned out without their meddling."

"We wouldn't be in this mess! Honestly, if Stefan hadn't killed Enzo, none of this would have happened. I'm just so mad at him!"

Alaric suddenly looked at her, understanding dawning. It was all about Stefan. "He was in ripper mode back then," he reminded her matter-of-factly.

"Still! It was just because of Enzo's death that Bonnie even had that… that reaction which set everything off. And now we have to pay the price! It's not fair!"

"You're mad because he's with Katherine." It was a statement. Alaric knew her too well.

After Kai had done his thing, Katherine hadn't just died. She had lost all her powers to him, yes. She was no longer immortal. But she was still alive, and human.

Just like Stefan…

They could be human together, Caroline didn't care. Well, she did. She was angry. When he'd told her that he felt sorry and responsible for Katherine - Katherine of all people - Caroline had snapped. She had yelled and thrown a fit. He was throwing all they had away for that woman? She had kept them as her prisoners and had wanted to ruin their lives! She was he one who was to blame for everything that was going wrong in their lives.

Caroline still remembered the look on his face. Torn, and sad, like he had battled with himself. How then, was this the outcome?

...

"You still love her," she had finally realized. "After all these years, after everything she's done. You and Damon… how she played with you… You still love her."

She hadn't needed an answer, she had seen it plainly in his face.

"I'm sorry, Caroline. I know this is hard to understand…"

"Hard to understand, Stefan?" She had scoffed. But she had been too upset, too tired to fight. "What does Damon have to say about you and her?"

He'd given her a half smile. "He's angry," he allowed. "I don't blame him. That's why I'll be leaving. I can't do this to him. Or you."

"You're leaving?"

"I'm sorry, Caroline. You deserve better. I couldn't be who you needed me to be. I… I've made things worse for people for longer than I care to admit. It's time for me to leave."

"You're leaving." She had been so shocked. For some reason she hadn't expected that. She hadn't even really thought about how her life was going to go on with the twins and "uncle Kai" and Alaric. But she had never questioned that Stefan would be in it, despite everything, she had been sure he would be there, always.

"I'll always only be a phone call away if you need me…"

A phone call.

…

So here they were, trying to get normalcy back, while their friends were on a hunt for their loved ones, while their siphon girls were getting to know their creepy uncle Kai. While Caroline didn't know what to feel, or whether she could live as a family with Alaric. And Jo, who was just not herself anymore and who'd retreated into herself more and more with every new day.

Without Stefan.

But the worst part? The worst part was that she actually thought Kai was super cute with the girls.

...

Thanks Guest and deenew, for your feedback. Much appreciated.

deenew: no worries. After rushing this a bit (totally in style for TVD, though, right? lol) the next chapter should have more Enzo and Bonnie and hopefully an end to their separation as we'll be catching up on those eight months...