...

The park was nice and quiet this early in the morning. It was part of the reason why Caroline had taken Josie and Lizzie out there right after they had gotten up so early.

While the little ones happily played and climbed under her watchful eye, she could let her mind wander a bit, and finally try to think a few things through. Or so she hoped.

"Careful there, Lizzie! Always keep one arm on the handrail!" She called out, and the bolder twin nodded at her, concentrating back on walking up the stairs to the slide.

They had grown so much. They used to be scared of the slide. Now they didn't even need or want her to come up there with them. She chuckled. They were as independent as she had been as a little girl.

She was glad that they seemed to be so unaffected by any of the crazy things that had happened to them. And that Kai had somehow actually done them some good. While she had refused to ever let him be alone with them - even though she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it had he decided to go all "king-of-hell" on her - she had not quite understood any of what they had been doing.

All she saw was the outcome: strangely happier kids. More laid back, self-confident. He'd somehow taught them what it meant to be a siphon and how to use it without alienating the people around you. The opposite of what he had done all his life.

And while she would never be able to forgive him or let him completely into her family, she had to admit that she had started to understand him a little bit.

Well… not the part where he killed his own siblings, including Jo, and had hurt Bonnie over and over again, and…

She bit her lip. The list was too long. Malachai Parker was too evil to ever be redeemed, but the person he was around her girls was a different man somehow. She was still relieved when he'd informed her just yesterday that now that his work was done, he would have to attend to other matters and would only be able to pop up sporadically.

"As much as I'd love to hang out indefinitely, I have obligations as the new ruler of our lovely little hell hole. - It's tough, I'm telling you ladies," he'd told her and Jo as they'd all sat down after their strange little family dinner. Minus Alaric, who was out bringing Elena and Enzo back.

Kai had continued, "Suddenly I have to deal with all these logistics and stuff. No more happy killing sprees. It's a little… disappointing. I don't mind the power, though," he'd contemplated. Then he'd smiled at them. "I'm afraid this will be a goodbye for now. But fear not, I will be back every so often."

With that he had left.

Caroline was left to wonder yet again how her life as a family was supposed to continue. With Alaric, and Jo, with Kai promising - or threatening - future visits. With Klaus…

Caroline closed her eyes for a moment.

…

She had seen him again, she had visited him while on an assignment in New Orleans. His city was so strange to her. She'd felt so lost.

But for one glorious night, he'd stolen away with her and they'd "made love" right there under a starry sky, the air still warm and so very humid that their writhing bodies had been damp with sweat.

It had been so… perfect. So different than her current life as a responsible patchwork mom and part time TV personality. So carnal. And she'd felt so alive.

But then he'd had to go, and she'd had to try to evade his family. And she'd thought of Josie and Lizzie, and how things were going without her. And all she had wanted to do was go home.

…

It was strange, really. She wouldn't ever admit it to them, but deep down she was jealous of what Damon and Elena had, and Bonnie and Enzo.

They were just so in love, so perfect for each other. They came running for each other when one of them was in danger. Who would really come running for her, for Caroline Forbes?

Stefan? He was with friggin' Katherine Pierce now. And while she still felt something deep for him, she couldn't forgive him that.

Klaus? His family was a bigger mess than hers. And that was saying something. He would probably not even be available, just like the last time she had needed him. Yet, there was always something about him. And the passion involved could make a girl addicted.

Alaric? He actually might. But probably more because of the girls than because he really truly loved her. And she just couldn't love him like that anyways.

Who then, was there to come running for her? Who could she love so much that it hurt? And who would she come running for in turn?

...

Before they left, Elena needed to confront her dad one more time. She had seen Damon help Enzo into the elevator, she had exchanged a glance with the vampire and briefly even given him a hug. But he'd flinched involuntarily, and she had let go right away.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you…" she had apologized, flushing, but he had given her a small smile in return.

"I've had worse..."

His words had stung her with how true they were; and her father was to blame. She wanted to apologize yet again, but then Enzo quietly added, "It's good to see you, Elena; I'm glad you're okay."

And all she could do was smile a teary smile at him. She hadn't really known what to say to him. She felt guilty. Like what had happened was somehow her fault. Because it was her dad that had tortured him. Tortured. She shivered. It was hard not to think about it. She knew Damon had tried to keep her from seeing too much of the traces that had still been visible on Enzo's body, but even just seeing his gaunt face, seeing how heavily he had leaned on Damon had told her a lot. Too much.

...

She bit her lip as she watched the two men continue walking over to the car. Then she turned to face a nodding Alaric, and together they went over to her dad.

Thankfully, her poor mom was with Jeremy now and didn't have to see any of this.

Jeremy had gotten the signal from Damon as soon as they had a lead on his family's whereabouts. Elena knew he'd wanted to keep his distance from their parents, but when she had been kidnapped by their dad, he had tirelessly worked with the others to try and find her. He hadn't returned to Mystic Falls for that, but he had worked with them from afar and had been on the road a lot, following tracks.

His team would be swooping in soon to take care of the Society's members and their other prisoners. They'd still been too far away to help earlier, something Jeremy had profusely apologized for to his sister.

He'd been so upset that he hadn't managed to find her earlier. But it wasn't his fault.

The one to blame was Elena's dad, and Katherine, by extension. And as it was, both would have to vanish out of their lives.

Elena stood in front of her dad, taking in the sight. It was the same handsome friendly face that she'd always keep in her memories.

The face she'd seen when she'd woken up from a bad dream and her parents had come in to soothe her back to sleep.

There was dried blood on his clothes now, the copper a stark contrast to the white of his lab coat. She knew what it meant, that Enzo drank from him, but she couldn't blame him.

Instead. She was honestly surprised - and grateful - that he hadn't killed her father. If she had been in his stead…

"I don't think I'd have let you live," she quietly told her dad, contempt visible in her features, but also tears in her eyes.

Her dad scoffed. "Will you let me live now?"

She glared at him. She didn't know what to say and was immensely grateful that Alaric was there with her, that she wasn't alone with her dad.

"You can't just call the police, sweetheart. They wouldn't know what to do with me, so… if you think I truly deserve punishment for what I did, you'll have to do it," Grayson Gilbert looked to his daughter, ignoring the other man. Elena was the best thing he'd done in his life. Taking her in. Raising her as his own. She was special. Jeremy was his in blood. But Elena… she was his in spirit. She was more like him than anyone else. She'd find that out one day. She'd understand.

"You'll be taken care of, dad. But not by me. Jeremy's got connections. They have ways of dealing with people like you that didn't do anything strictly wrong by the "usual" standards - as you might perhaps know. I mean, you were a vampire hunter once, before you turned into a torturer."

"I'm not a torturer, Elena!" Grayson's anger suddenly exploded, but he forced himself to calm down again immediately. His daughter looked at him so disappointed that it hurt.

"What else, then, do you think you are?! Because I really don't know." Elena hid her face behind Alaric's shoulder for a minute. She couldn't look him in the eyes.

Grayson suddenly wondered whether she was right. Whether he was a torturer. He swallowed hard. He'd enjoyed what he was doing. He'd always told himself that it didn't matter because strictly, those vampires were not people. They shouldn't feel like humans. They shouldn't need to be treated like humans. They had no rights. It didn't count. Because they were monsters, and they were technically already dead.

Right?

"I'm not a torturer. I did what I did to help people. I told you that before. I'm not going to explain myself again." His mouth turned into a thin line.

His daughter stared at him for a long time. No one said a word until Alaric finally cleared his throat loudly. "Time to leave, Elena. You go with Damon, get Enzo home, and I'll wait here."

She looked at him. "I don't think you should wait here alone, with him-"

He smiled. "I just want you to go and get out of this depressing place. I'll be fine. I can take care of myself till Jer's guys are here. But I don't trust your dad to still be here if we left him alone now. And I can't have that happen. He's a threat to all of us. He's a threat to you. And no one threatens my family."

She kissed him lightly on the cheek then, and walked past her dad, out the door. Then she started running to the elevator, bit her nails while waiting for it to take her up.

...

Elena ran straight for Damon, who had been waiting for her. She clung to him, burying her face against his chest and finally the tears came.

It took her a long time before she finally felt like the worst was over and she could stand up straight again. She looked up into his troubled eyes and apologized, "I think I got your shirt all wet."

He smiled and wiped her tears from her face. "No, that was the rain," he whispered, then louder, "Is Ric coming?"

"He wants to wait."

Damon nodded. He didn't need an explanation. "Let's go, babe," he said, "time to get you back."

They walked over to the car, where she saw Enzo lying curled up in the back.

"Catching up on some much needed sleep," Damon muttered, explaining, sorrow showing in his face. "Come on, let's get him to Bonnie…"

And they did.

...

She had felt the stupid Braxton Hicks contractions pick up again, taunting her. She drank all the water and rested as much as possible, but it wasn't doing much these days. If she had to do this three more weeks, she would be so tired and exhausted by the time she had to get the baby out, she would probably just fall asleep during the whole thing. She sighed.

"Bonnie. They're on their way," Caroline informed her from over by the couch and patted the seat right next to her. "Sit back down. They'll be here before you know it."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, annoyed. She wasn't annoyed at Caroline, of course. It was the whole damn situation. She was suddenly so anxious.

What would Enzo think when he saw her? She had gotten so wide; she had days where she really hated her body. And then she was amazed at the miracle that was growing inside of her.

She remembered how she had first found out about it. Enzo had been gone a while by then. She hadn't even really paid attention to her own body all that much. She had attributed anything off as stress. The random bouts of hunger, then slight nausea. Her period not showing up… the crampiness. Until one day she had fainted when she had been hanging out at the Armory with Kai, Damon and Caroline. Caroline had been the one she had seen first upon coming to. A worried expression had been on her face and she'd asked quietly so that the men couldn't hear her, "You're not pregnant, Bonnie, are you?"

"What?!" Bonnie had exclaimed and then quickly denied the possibility. But then she had started thinking, and suddenly everything had made so much sense. The doctor had confirmed it a couple of days later and she'd sat in shock and wonder for a while, unable to do anything.

What future would her baby have, would it get to know the father? Now he really was on his way back to her. To them. Enzo was really coming home. It took everything for her to not start crying again. She took a deep breath. She needed to be strong for him, for their baby. Just a little while longer.

So she finally sat back down next to her friend, slumping down into the cushions.

"It's going to be alright," Caroline cajoled. "It'll all be over soon."

Bonnie knew she was being unfair, but she couldn't hold her sudden anger back. Maybe it was because of those stupid pregnancy hormones messing with her. Or maybe she was just being a bitch. But she scoffed at Caroline.

"It won't, though! It won't just magically be all okay. Do you even know what they did to him? Do you? Do you think he can just happily get back to his life and play the happy dad-to-be, when he hasn't even been around for most of my pregnancy?"

"Bonnie, I'm sorry, I…" Caroline was flustered, and at a loss for words. Clearly she hadn't anticipated this kind of outbreak. And her friend couldn't stop just yet.

"I was already so worried about him before all this happened. He had the worst dreams. The worst! Mr. Gilbert," she still called him that, it just came out that way, "put him through all that again. I'm… I'm so," she couldn't find a good word, and had to settle on a lesser one, "so worried about him. I mean, I can't exactly send him to a therapist. What would he even tell them: 'Hey, I'm a vampire and I survived 70 years of torture and then recently my tormentor locked me up again and the constant torture and multiple deaths may have messed with me a little bit?'"

Caroline stared at her, open mouthed. "Bonnie…"

Her best friend suddenly started sobbing and profusely apologizing, "I'm so sorry, Care. Oh gosh. You don't deserve any of this. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay Bonnie."

"No, it's not. I have no right to lash out at you like that. You've been there for me. You've dealt with all my moods and... I just don't know what to do, how to even treat Enzo when he's back. I'm just sooo…"

Bonnie's sobs got too strong to continue speaking. Caroline scrunched up her face in sympathy as she gently stroked Bonnie's hair. She felt so sorry for her friend. The last few months had been hard for her, too, but Bonnie had had it so much worse. She inhaled, then said with her best act of conviction, "You'll ask him what he needs. You two are not alone, either, you know? We're your friends. And we're there for you."

Bonnie looked up into her friend's face, wiping her cheeks.

"It's just so hard," she muttered.

"I know."

"I'm so angry that I had to do all this alone, but I can't be angry at him; it's not like he chose any of this..."

"You can be angry at Katherine," Caroline suggested, smiling at Bonnie. "And at Elena's dad. You have every right to be. It's okay to be angry, but it's also okay to leave the anger behind every so often and focus on the good." She lightly patted Bonnie's stomach that was unmistakably protruding even when she sat in a slumped heap on the couch.

Suddenly they both heard a car approach and park, and they exchanged a glance. Bonnie's eyes grew wide. As quickly as she still could, she hoisted herself up off the couch and ran to the door, opened it and…

…

First she saw Elena standing next to the car, waving with one hand, and they both smiled at each other. Her tears started welling again and she could tell that her friend had started crying, too. Bonnie mouthed a "hi," it was all she could say, frozen on the spot for a moment, when she noticed Damon by one of the backdoors, stooped down to help someone out of the car.

Her someone.

"Enzo?" It was more of a gasp for air than a name, and her hand flew to her mouth as she started walking toward him. She needed to go slow now. Her knees were so weak as if this was a first date, and the audience didn't help, either.

And then she saw him, the real him. Not a dream version. It was really him. He stood tall now, chin raised up. But he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and his face was haggard, his eyes darker than usual. She couldn't see much physical damage from here - yet - with one exception: his fingers, his hands protruding from his shirt, they were red and raw looking. Her face fell a little, but she caught herself quickly. She didn't want him to think…

When he walked, it was a heavy limp, Damon by his side. Caroline moved to help, she was a vampire after all, and now stronger than Damon, but he gave her a look and a small shake of his head and she stayed where she was, nodding. Understanding.

...

When Enzo finally stood right in front of Bonnie, his smile was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.

"Hello, love," he breathed, and her hands came up to cup his face so she could kiss me.

"I've missed you so much," Bonnie choked out, the tears running down her face freely once more. She forgot all about the others then. For one blissfull perfect moment it was just him and her.

"I love you so much, Enzo St. John," she whispered, and the smile she gave him couldn't have been bigger. Still, she cried.

"Don't cry, Bonnie. Please. I'm here now. I'm... here." His voice broke.

She couldn't help the tears. But she tried to rein in the sob that wanted to escape when she saw the marks peeking out from under the standing collar of his jacket. "Oh, babe, I'm so sorry…"

He grimaced a little when her hand lingered over his skin, and she didn't know whether she could even hug him. Whether she should. It was a horrible feeling. But then she felt his arms come around her as he pressed her hard against him.

"I love you so much, Bonnie Bennett. I love you…"

...

Thank you all so much for the reviews. I won't deny that it's more fun with a little feedback here and there. Otherwise it's all just for the void.