Here I am again~

I am going to refuse to promise when I'll update again because whenever I do I lose motivation for the story. Instead I'll promise I'm not going to drop the story no matter how much time passes.

This way you know that a chapter will be coming just not when.

I'm excited to get this chapter out because it does move the plot forward and sets up a lot of stuff for Lissa's later plots and plans.

But the big difference is there is a new POV! Let me know how you feel about it and maybe I'll do some other people's POVs. It was different to write in a character's POV that I didn't make so please give me any constructive criticism you have!

Thank you to anyone that Reviewed, favorited, and followed! You really helped me get that last bit of the chapter out~

In front of her Jason looked at her confused. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Lissa Gilbert…" Lissa muttered, still shocked. How in the hell had she caused this?

"Lissa? You're shitting me?"

She slowly shook her head. "Trust me, I'm not."

Damon cleared his throat, bringing the two's attention to him. "So how do you two know each other? Am I going to have to defend someone's honor?"

Lissa snorted as Jason shot the vampire an offended look. Lissa was sixteen, he'd known her in some capacity since she was fourteen. Did Damon really think she'd have slept with a man that was at least double her age? "No, Jason is the one I go to for any information I need pertaining to the supernatural." Side eyeing the bald man, she grinned. "Now I see how you get that information so easily, too."

Bree smiled, smug. "Yep, Bree's bar; The place you go for cheap drinks and good info."

"How long have you been dealing with this stuff?" Elena asked, leaning forward to stare at her sister. She knew the white haired girl had known about everything for years, but if she had informants and magic and who knows what else…Lissa had to have actively been looking into the supernatural for years.

Lissa, knowing exactly how her sister was thinking, shrugged, brushing the question off to instead question Bree. If she answered honestly there would be a fight, not answering her sister was her best bet. "So, how'd you two meet? Last Jason implied was that he lived in fucking Ohio."

"Chasing a guy for you actually. Needed to follow a guy down here and stopped for a drink, met this goddess and knew I was fucked. Now I'm married to the best woman in the world." Jason smiled lovingly as he wrapped his arms around Bree from behind.

Damon nudged Lissa, teasing grin on his face. "Look at you, getting people together without even trying. A real life matchmaker."

Lissa rolled her eyes as Damon ordered a drink for all of them. Declining, Lissa instead started talking with Bree and Jason while Damon played therapist for the still upset Elena.

Apparently Lexi had dropped Lissa's name to them and with Jason backing her up on Lissa's trustworthiness , Bree had decided she could talk about things Lissa very much doubted she would normally talk to other random patrons about.

Lissa jolted before grinning as Bree casually dropped that some higher up member of the Gemini coven had traded her a copy of the prison world spell for Bree to give one of their members a full new identity. Eyes lighting up in interest, Lissa almost begged to see it. The prison world spell, now that she understood magic better, was something she had wanted to get her hands on for years now. Depending on how the spell worked, Lissa may have just solved a rather large issue she was having.

Bree agreed on the condition they do an information exchange, Lissa would have to give information of equal value and she would get a copy of the spell. Easily agreeing, Bree stopped to top off Damon and Elena's drinks before heading upstairs where the couple's place was.

Lissa turned to check on her partners in crime and saw Elena had made her way back outside and was on the phone. Damon wasn't too far away from Lissa so she snapped her fingers, bringing her shield up around her and Jason, putting more magic than normal into it so she knew it would block her words from Damon's eavesdropping. She'd seen the man glance over at them a bit too much for her not to think he was listening in. Lucky for her, Damon was rather stupid when it came to witch stuff, so she didn't have to worry about him figuring out what she was getting. The only downside was making the shield this think? It was incredibly obvious, the shield itself visibly shimmering a blueish silver. So everyone in the bar now knew she was hiding something.

"So what's the info?" Jason asked, leaning on the bar next to Lissa eyeing the shield but ultimately not questioning it. He had set her up with her tattoo artist, so she wouldn't put it past him to already know about her runic tattoos.

Lissa hummed, studying Jason. He had connections with all factions of the supernatural, even the more prejudice or reclusive communities. This could be her chance to keep Klaus from completely decimating the werewolf population. "What if I told you in a little less than half a year, there will be a way for werewolves to control the turn? They'd have to turn into hybrids though, half vampire half werewolf."

"No way, that goes against the very core of those two species." Jason shook his head in disbelief.

"You sure about this?" Kol spoke up. If Lissa didn't know better she'd say he had a touch of concern in his voice. "I'm all for you completely mucking up my brother's plan if this goes wrong, but he'll probably kill you and everyone you care about for it."

"First, not going to go wrong. And second, I'll chance it. Jason knows when to keep a secret and when not to. I just need him to spread the word in correct circles so I can get names and stuff to send to Klaus." Lissa explained.

Biting her lip, she turned back to Jason. "I'm not explaining how, don't particularly want the ritual stopped, but I promise the info is correct." She paused for a moment, second guessing herself before plowing through. "What I'm about to tell you stays between us Jason. I'm not kidding if someone else learns this before the time is right, it'll get me, you, and everyone we've ever even talked to killed."

"Girl, what the hell are you getting me into?" Jason growled.

"Do you want the info or not? Aren't your nieces and nephew werewolves? Along with your sister-in-law?"

Jason sighed but nodded. His older brother had married into a small but reclusive werewolf pack that lived near Yellowstone. While his nephew hadn't triggered his curse, his two little nieces had. Five years ago they'd been attacked by some hikers and in order to protect themselves they ended up killing them before his sister-in-law and the pack could find them. They had only been seven years old.

"The guy, no I'm not giving you his name, is a hybrid. When he was turned into a vampire his curse also triggered. Then because his mom is a raging bitch, she locked his wolf away-"

"Locked away? That's barbaric. It would be like lopping off half of someone's body and expecting them to go about their life in pain and disorientation." Jason said, thinking what he'd do if someone had done that to his family. If someone had crippled the people he cared about. It sent shivers down his spine thinking about the agony that would cause.

Lissa didn't argue with him. She could feel Kol as he paid attention to their conversation, almost like he sat right beneath her skin. His turning had severed just as much as their mother locking Klaus' wolf away. At least Klaus had a chance to get his wolf back, Kol would never develop that same connection with nature he'd had as a witch.

"I've had a thousand years to get used to it, Darling. You don't need to feel any sympathy for me." Kol said, unbeknownst to her a small smile on his face in her mindscape.

"More like annoyance at how stupid your mother was." Lissa stated, trying not to roll her eyes. "You would have been such a strong witch if you'd stayed human."

"I know, but thank you for stating so, really makes the ego grow."

Coming back to the conversation with Jason, Lissa shrugged. "I'm aware. That's why I'm helping him break it. Anyway, once it's broken he can turn other wolves into hybrids…ergo, they can then control it."

"You're certain?"

"Yes, if you can give them my business email, have them email me their name and where they live. I'll get back to them when I know more about when we can turn them." Lissa stated. Had she planned to try and get werewolves to choose to turn? Yes, but more by going along with Klaus on his Summer Road Trip from Hell.

This? This would be so much easier. People talk, especially reclusive werewolf communities. If she could have them already aware and willing to turn? She may be able to completely negate the summer road trio instead have the werewolves come to her to turn. It really all depended on Klaus and how the whole ritual turned out.

Before Jason could say anything else, Bree came back down the stairs and paused at the shield before knocking. Lissa chuckled and dropped it, rewarding her polite response to a rather odd piece of magic.

"Her info good?" Bree asked, waving a folded piece of paper in the air. She knew better than to ask about the shield. It looked like an original spell, and most witches were rather protective of original spells. Jason studied Lissa, face unreadable to the teenager, before nodding.

Bree grinned as she handed the paper over to the albino girl. "I just photocopied it, hope you don't mind. I've been wanting to study this spell since I met this one witch from the Gemini Coven years ago."

Lissa, instead of answering, unfolded the paper and started studying. The main thing she was looking for was if the spell tied the prisoner's soul to the world. She needed it to be tied to the world. According to Kol that was the only way magic worked on her; if it was tied to her blood or soul. After a couple of minutes, she grinned.

The spell should do exactly what she was thinking about if her initial look over was correct. But she would have to set it up and everything at a later date with her witch friend, Paige. Despite the girl trying to cover it up, Lissa knew she was part of or formerly part of the Gemini Coven. She was a siphoner, literally only the Gemini Coven churned those out.

"Thank you so much," Lissa smiled at both of them. "I'm pretty sure you, quite literally, just saved my life."

"With a prison spell?"

"Mm-hmm,"

"Don't know how that works, but you're welcome, I suppose."

As Lissa refolded the paper and stuck it in her pocket, Elena came over, determined glint in her eyes, and leaned against her side, smile on her face. "Lissa! You should come get drunk with me. We haven't done that since the back to school party last year!" She spun around the point at Damon who was sitting at their table, two shot glasses held in the air.

Lissa chuckled at her sister before asking Bree for a screwdriver and a bottle of vodka. She wasn't going to get drunk drunk, but tipsy? She could easily burn off the alcohol if she was only tipsy with a quick burst of magic filtered through her body. Kol had explained how to do it one night when she was in her mindscape just quizzing the Original on magic stuff.

And it turns out all the magic she sucks up can, sort of, be used. Sort of because most of it gets pushed into her soul, powering that, keeping it from eating itself. Any left over is what she gets to use either by powering someone else's spells or her own. Lissa just happened to live in a magic heavy area, around magic heavy beings. She'd been subconsciously sucking magic in from day one. Now if only she could learn to suck it up on purpose.

For the next couple of hours, Damon, Elena, and her got progressively more drunk and rowdy; Lissa making sure she burnt off the alcohol anytime she felt like she was passing the line from tipsy into drunk. Not that her drinking partner knew that. To them and the rest of the bar, Lissa was as shitfaced as her twin sister. That was why she noticed when Bree and Damon snuck off to the back alleyway.

Sweeping the bar, Jason was busy getting for the multiple patrons that were egged on to drink more my her and her sister. Said sister was playing pool, badly, against a biker woman that Lissa was half convinced was a witch herself.

Focusing her magic inwards, she quickly flushed the alcohol from her blood, shivering at the sudden soberness. Grabbing her drink, she made her way to the back door, keeping it cracked just enough that she could hear the conversation and somewhat see what was going on while still being hidden.

"Now Bree, I'm sure you know why I'm actually here." Damon stated, leaning against the brick wall, putting himself closest to the door.

"I already told you years ago how to get Katherine out, Damon."

"Slight issue, a dead witch blew up the crystal."

"Then I can't help you. Comet, crystal, and boom the tomb was open."

"Than get me a new crystal and a new comet, let's override Emily's spell."

Lissa heard Bree scoff. "You know that's not how magic works. Emily's spell was absolute. Without that crystal the tomb ain't opening." After that uplifting answer she stormed inside, not even noticing Lissa lurking in the shadows.

"Except all you need to break a spell like that is a witches grimoire…which should be easy enough to find." Kol said in response to Bree's lie. Not that either of them could hear him, but Lissa had noticed he liked to comment as if he were really there. She wondered if he'd do the same if he watched actual TV and not her brain one.

It was cute…not that Lissa would be telling Kol that. He already had the Mikaelson arrogance, no need to give him a bigger ego especially while he was stuck inside her head with only herself as entertainment. He'd milk it for all it was worth.

Lissa, seeing Damon wasn't coming in, made her way out to the alleyway herself. There standing against the wall, head facing the sky, was a solemn Damon. "Please tell me you're not actually in despair? All magic has a loophole. Nature makes it that way."

"Which Bree already told me…and Emily assured I couldn't use it." Damon gritted his teeth. "I'm not getting Katherine out."

Lissa raised an eyebrow as her frenemy instead of rolling her eyes like she wanted to. He was so dramatic. "Emily was a Bennett, right?"

"So?"

This time she really did roll her eyes. "So, all witches keep grimoires, but especially Bennett witches. Find her grimoire, find the way to break the spell." If Lissa just happened to already have the grimoire, thus when gifting it to him endearing him to her even more? Well, that was between her and herself.

"And me, Darling"

Damon flitted over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, tight enough that she was going to be bruised. In her head she heard Kol complain about Damon's handling of 'his daily entertainment!'. And Lissa just knew when she got back and Enzo saw them he would blow a gasket.

"Are you sure?" Damon asked, eyes boring into her own. "If you're lying to me…"

"Get your fucking hands off me, first," Lissa ground out, staring back at Damon just as hard. "Then I'll explain."

Damon, as if someone was controlling him, took his hands off her and took a step back. He blinked down at himself before shaking his head. "Explain then."

"Only idiot witches make spells without reversals," Inside her head she heard Kol scoff. Which was fair, she did just imply he was an idiot since the very spell that got them stuck together was one such spell that didn't have a reversal that wouldn't leave her dead. Or quasidead, since the reversal of it would leave her brain on the wrong side of mush. "It's like with poisoners, don't create a poison without an antidote, well witches don't create spells without a reversal. Emily's reversal for the tomb spell will be in her grimoire, wherever it is."

Damon eyed her for a minute before smiling. "So I still have a chance?"

"If you can get that grimoire? Yes."

"Bree knew this, didn't she?"

Lissa sighed. She was all for revenge killing, but she needed Jason as an informant and if Damon killed Bree she doubted the bald man would be willing to keep helping her. Let alone how Lexi would react since she's alive this time. "You can't kill Bree."

Damon snorted. "I think you'll see I very much can and will."

"Damon, I will set your ass on fire and feed your still smoking ashes to your brother if you take one menacing step towards Bree. She has too many connections that both of us can use for you to just murder her because she pissed you off." Lissa threatened, stepping toward the dark haired vampire, right hand raised as if to do exactly that.

The stare Damon set at her would have left a normal girl shaking at the intensity. Lucky for her she wasn't a normal girl. Finally he softened before chuckling, hands up in surrender. "You can put the claws away, Snow Kitten, I won't kill her. But I'm assuming calling her out on her lies in front of everyone is available?"

"And ruin her reputation as a reputable informant? Sure, she'll still be able to get info because of the bar, which is what's important. Just make sure you don't burn Jason with her. He's my best source." Lissa shrugged.

Damon smirked at her before turning to go back inside. Once he was gone, she sighed. Hopefully the vampire actually stuck to his word, cause she wasn't lying about Jason being one of the best. And if one of her friends killed his wife? She;d be barred from so damn much.

Early on she had tried to think of ways to cover up her foreknowledge or make it less questionable. That was when she realized if she got a reputation for collecting information and other things like old grimoires, spelled items, and other supernatural things, people wouldn't question how she knew things. It would just fall under her quirk of needing to know everything.

It was the perfect cover for people she didn't want knowing about the s-the dream.

Making her way back in, she saw the crowd had dispersed some as night fell. Elena and Damon both sitting in front of plates of food, a third one she assumed was for her to their left. Before she could head over, Jason cut her off.

She mentally groaned but waited for the man to talk. Wasn't this trip supposed to be a break from everything? Why did it feel more like an errand?

"Wanna explain why Damon just took a nuke to my wife's reputation?"

"She lied to him. She's lucky I talked him out of ripping her heart out." Lissa countered.

Jason cursed, glancing over at Bree who was working the bar but she kept looking over at the two of them anytime she could get away with it without being too obvious. "I told her to just be truthful, but she said he had planned to kill Lexi and she couldn't just help him after that."

Lissa shot him an 'are you kidding?' look. "Lexi is alive, her boyfriend is now a vampire, and Bree has a rather wonderful husband. Are you sure she's not just looking for trouble?"

"I'll talk to her, see if she'll apologize." Jason said before reaching into his jacket pocket and handing her a couple of papers. "By the way, while I have you, this is all I could find on Sarah Loveland. She's either not an important person, or amazing at covering her tracks; either way, there's not much."

Lissa thanked him as she put the papers into the same pocket as the one with the spell. She'd read them when she got home. Waving at him, she, finally, made her way over to her food. Grabbing a fry as she sat down, Lissa pointed at Damon. "Jason said sorry, Be-Tee-Dub."

"Be-Tee-Dub? What?"

"By the way? Come on Damon, I know you're old but at least keep up with the times."

Elena let out a laugh before continuing her questions about vampirism as Lissa pulled out her phone to text Enzo. She'd asked him to grab Emily's grimoire and another Bennet one to plant some clues for Bonnie to find and to keep an eye on said witch since she would be going to the tomb. This was a good time to get on the girl's good side. Apparently he'd done a bit more than just watch the witch. She cackled as she read the text.

Enzo's POV

Waking up to find out his former friend had blackmailed his best friend into going on a road trip with her knocked out sister didn't make for the best morning. But since he had talked to Lissa and got a threat or two into Damon, he wasn't really worried. Lissa had even asked her to run a couple of errands for her.

Enzo had agreed since he didn;y really have any plans for the day…or week, and it would get him out of the house. He'd been so bored recently he'd taken up watching daytime soap operas…and as entertaining as they were, especially that damn Spanish channel, he refused to waste away listening to Maria scream at Esteban for sleeping with her mother, Estella, while she was pregnant.

No matter how riveting the plot was.

Jumping in his car, he drove down to the twenty-four hour storage unit area. Lissa had grabbed one of the giant ones back when some old rich woman died and all her stuff was sold by her grandchildren for some cash. When Lissa told him about it she said she didn't want to run out of room anytime soon. And originally, before he'd been freed and actually saw her stuff, he thought his pale friend was overestimating how much room she'd need.

Now? Not so much. There were a number of grimoires from multiple covens and bloodlines, some cursed some not, cursed knives, chest filled with a number of gross things, even a guillotine that is said to sever not only the body's head but also the soul's leaving the poor schmuck that died to forever be missing their head even in death.

All in all, it was a collection that he seriously feared falling into anyone else's hands. Hell, some days he feared them in Lissa's hands. He wasn;t delusional no matter how much he loved her, Enzo knew she was psychotic. She was smart about it, but morals always took a backseat to her getting her way.

But he supported her anyway.

Parking, Enzo grabbed the key and walked over to where he knew the unit was, grateful he'd been tied into the wards that Lissa had paid some witch to come put around the place. Unless you were tied into them, obviously done by blood, the unit wasn't visible. It just looked like the line of stooges stopped at 14 instead of 15. There were other protections having to do with intention and something not dissimilar to Lissa's own shield, but magic wasn't Enzo's forte. He was very much a muscles and snark guy. Magic on the level that Lissa was studying and practicing took way too much time to research and the planning was so complicated it hurt his head. He'd leave all that up to her. Not that he couldn't do it if he wanted.

He just didn't want to. And Lissa didn't hold it against him.

Going to the grimoires, Enzo searched for the couple Lissa needed. She had said she alphabetized where she got them by last name, unless the person didn't have a last name or she didn't know it. So going to the beginning, he started looking for the first one; Emily Bennett's. Quickly finding it, he snorted at the giant name plastered over the front. For a witch that lived back when they were being prosecuted, he'd assumed she wouldn't literally engrave her name over incriminating evidence on the off chance she was ever caught.

How wrong he was. Grabbing the other grimoire Lissa wanted, a rather small one at the bottom of the Bennett pile, he left the unit, making sure to lock up afterwards.

Putting the grimoires in his trunk, Enzo made his way to the school. He'd texted Caroline earlier to make sure the Bennett witch was in class and had to dodge her questions as to why he was asking. And by dodge he meant he blamed it on Lissa. Caroline dropped it after that.

When in doubt, blame it on Lissa. She did enough weird stuff that no one really questioned her much beyond the initial wonder.

Getting to the school, he parked and grabbed his book he'd been reading. Some mystery novel Jeremy had suggested to him to get back into modern reading, he settled down, keeping an ear out for Bonnie.

Enzo wasn't sure how much time passed, enough that it was closer to lunchtime than the morning, when he heard Stefan's voice call out to his charge. With a smirk, he saved his place and flitted over to where he heard the two.

"Please, Bonnie, it's for Elena." Stefan begged, following behind the girl.

Instead of waiting for her answer, Enzo sauntered up, smirk on his face. "I believe she said no already, or are you the type of man that doesn't listen when women say that?"

"Enzo!" Bonnie exclaimed, "Stefan was just…"

"He was begging you to do a spell to find his wayward girlfriend, even though he knows she's safe and doesn't want him to know where she is." Enzo explained, staring down the now tense younger Salvatore.

Bonnie gasped. "You know?"

"Little Bennett, I'm a vampire, of course I know." Enzo chuckled, smiling down at the girl. "Sorry for the initial duplicity, but we were keeping my involvement a bit hush hush…now? Not so much." He then turned to Stefan. "And before you ask, no I'm not the one attacking everyone. Lissa has asked me to not feed in the area. And unlike your brother, I actually listen to the people I care about."

Stefan frowned at the sight of another vampire so close to people Elena cared about. While the man hadn't done anything and was rather pleasant when they had spoken the night Vicki was killed, it didn't mean he wanted him near people his girlfriend loved. "What are you wanting with Bonnie? Why are you here?"

"Just doing a favor for a friend," Enzo shrugged. "And making sure you don't bug the lonely lady with unneeded questions."

"I need to know where Elena is and if she's okay." Stefan said, looking to Bonnie. "Please, Bonnie, can you help me?"

Bonnie sighed and started to nod before Enzo interrupted with a snort. "Stefan, here, proof your girl is safe and perfectly fine." Enzo pulled out his phone showing the other vampire a picture Lissa had taken and sent him of a sleeping Elena in the backseat of the car. They could even see half of Lissa's face, shit eating grin on at catching her sister drooling into the car's seat. "Safe and sound. She just doesn't want you knowing where she is."

"Or Damon doesn't."

Bonnie cleared her throat, bringing the two men's attention to her. "Why doesn't Elena want Stefan to know where she is?"

Stefan shuffled a bit looking uncomfortable but admitted what happened. Which was he'd kept something important, important in that her and her sister shared a face with his psychotic ex, from his girlfriend and she'd found out. And freaked out. Rightfully so in Enzo's opinion. Even Damon had tried to tell Lissa at one point, even if she already knew.

"I can try and see if she's safe and everything…but Stefan, if Elena doesn't want you to know and she safe with Lissa then I'm not telling you where she is." Bonnie said.

Stefan sighed but smiled. "Thank you, really."

Enzo clicked his tongue but there wasn't anything he could do to stop her, not without looking like a major ass. Since they wanted Bonnie on their side, or as close to it as would get considering their nonchalance towards murder, that wasn't an ideal look. "Well, seeing some magic will be fun, I suppose."

Bonnie looked uncertainly at Enzo. "I'm not too good at it. Nothing like the shield thing Lissa did when she saved me from Damon, so I don't know how 'fun' this'll be."

"Little Bennett, Lissa isn't a witch, not like you. She can just access magic with the right circumstances, but I don't think she's ever called herself a witch." Enzo explained. "So seeing a real witch in action, even a novice, will be a new experience."

What Enzo was a bit of a lie considering Augustine pulled out all the stops for their favorite prisoner. It was more like it would be nice to see a real witch that didn't harm him in some way.

Smiling a bit more certainly at him, Bonnie led the two vampires over to a table as Stefan handed over a necklace. Recognizing the shining metal as Elena's, he snickered to himself. She'd clearly ripped it off when she'd found out about Katherine, which was a fair reaction in his opinion.

The two vampires sat silently–awkwardly–eyes zeroed in on Bonnie as she wrapped her hands around the metal and closed her eyes. A few moments passed before they shot back open as a gasp left her mouth. "My-my magic. I can't feel it."

"Like it's gone or just can't access it?" Enzo asked quickly.

"I can't use it. It's…it's there but-" She broke off shaking her head. "I have to go. I'm sorry, Stefan."

Stefan opened his mouth to say something but Bonnie had already scurried away from them before he could. Enzo chuckled at him before getting up himself and leaving with a shake of his head. Poor Stefan, girlfriend pissed and off with his brother, witch friend suddenly couldn't help him, and he had stupid air. What was a guy with a hero complex shoved up his ass to do?

Ignoring the calls from Stefan, Enzo decided to follow the baby witch. There wasn't anything better to do and the little Bennett intrigued him. Making sure she didn't notice his car following her, he pulled in behind her own vehicle at her home ten minutes after she'd gotten there. Glancing around, he didn't see much that screamed 'Witch!' besides a couple of spell bottles on windows that were so obviously wards.

Knocking on the door, he listened as someone sighed but didn't move to come greet him. Knocking again, he grinned at the groan that came with it. Raising his hand to knock again when the door still wasn't opened, he stopped as finally it opened revealing a panicked but annoyed Bonnie. "Hello, Little Witch."

"Enzo?" Bonnie said questionably. "What are you doing here? Did you follow me?"

"Yes to following you. As to why I'm here…I figured I could help."

She looked unconvinced. "You know about magic?"

"No, but I've been around Lissa during her brainstorming enough I can probably puzzle your problem together."

She was unconvinced. "No offense, but I don't think I should guess at this problem. It's not like math homework. It's my magic."

She shrugged. "If you don't want help, that's fine, but like I said. I think I have your solution." He turned around to leave, steps light and grin on his face. He gave her ten seconds before she called him back.

.

.

.

It was three. He now sat next to her in the frilly living room as she flipped through her magic cookbook trying to find something to corroborate his theory. With a frustrated sigh, Bonnie slammed the book closed. "You seriously think its all in my head? That my fear of Damon, of vampires, is blocking my magic?"

Enzo suppressed an eye roll. Lissa wanted her to like them. Being impatient with her wouldn't help, but, good lord, they'd gone over this five times already. "Yes. If I remember Lissa's rants and mumbles right, magic is all about intent. Even when doing a spell perfectly you have to want it to work. Otherwise it probably won't work and if it does it'd be incredibly weak."

"Which means because Damon scared me, my magic is now scared to…what? Work?"

"Makes sense. You faced death or the closest you've ever gotten before. Simple question, simple answer."

Bonnie's hands clenched around the book. "There's nothing simple about this! If I was scared I wouldn't have invited you, a vampire, into the house. Is that something a scared person would do?"

A throat cleared from behind the two, but only one flinched in shock. It was difficult to sneak up on a vampire so he'd been aware of the elder Bennett for a minute. "Instead of answering that, I would like to know why my granddaughter thought it prudent to even allow the vampire near the home."

Sheila was as intimidating as Lissa said she was. Despite the shorter height, the strong set of her shoulders to the steel spine, everything about the woman oozed confidence and competence. If only she didn't hate his species, Enzo was certain they'd 'get along'. "Ah, just your friendly neighborhood bloodsucker doing my one good deed of the decade."

"I didn't ask you."

Touche, Grandma Witchy. Bonnie launched herself into her grandma;'s arms, babbling her problem and explanation as Sheila guided her back to the couch. Enzo stayed silent, not wanting to bring even more attention to himself and get an aneurysm from hell from the elder Bennett. Not that she took her eyes off him. Even as she listened to her granddaughter, the woman's eyes kept flickering back to him, checking to make sure he wasn't doing anything nefarious.

Winding down from her panic, Bonnie gazed at her grandma, waiting for her own input. "So…do you think he's right? Is it all just in my head?"

Sheila's next words looked rather difficult for her to say. "Yes, I believe so, sugar."

Clapping his hands together, Enzo stood up with a smirk. "Well then, now that we've all agreed I'm right, let's get to fixing your issue."

"Just how did you figure the solution out, vampire? Your kind doesn't often have much to do with the inner workings of magic." Sheila glared.

Enzo felt vindictiveness swell in him. "Lissa. Just because you refused to teach her doesn't mean she stopped learning."

Bonnie's eyes swiveled between the two, air heavy. "Grams, you taught Lissa?"

"Yes, until I realized she was more of a magical parasite than a true witch."

Enzo's lip curled at the disrespect. "That parasite saved your granddaughter's life with magic you refused to teach her."

Silence answered his barbed comeback. Bonnie didn't really know where the sudden animosity had come from and Sheila was unwilling and unable to admit to her faults. Huffing, he turned to leave less he start a bloodbath that would erase any work he and Lissa had done getting the little Bennett on their side. " Come along, Baby Witch, if you want to get your magic back." He called out behind him.

As he walked to the car, he listened to the murmurs he could hear through the walls. Sheila telling Bonnie not to go, Bonnie refusing her request. A couple of taps of her feet before he had a witch in the car seat next to him. "What are we doing? How are we going to get my magic back?"

"Best way to get over your fear? Confront it."

The drive to their destination wasn't long, maybe ten, twenty minutes. It was silent the whole way except for one of the CDs Lissa had made for him to get up to date with modern music. Occasionally he's see Bonnie open her mouth as if to say something but ultimately decide against it.

"The old church?" She raised her eyebrow. "Do you want me to pray my fear away?"

Enzo shot her an incredulous look. "No. This is just the closest parking lot to where we need to go. There's still a small walk to the area." Opening up his car door, Enzo start off behind the old church, heading into the woods.

For whatever reason she seemed more surprised at that than the thought of praying her fear away, but she did hurry after him. Lucky for her and her heeled booties, it really was a small walk. Maybe 3/4th of a mile on a well established trail to the clearing he needed. Enzo stopped walking, looking around the clearing before clearing his throat to gain Bonnie's attention. "We're here."

"Oh," She muttered, blushing at the fact she was so engrossed in making sure she didn't fall she almost walked right out of the clearing. "What's so special about this place?"

Enzo looked around the clearing, trying to remember where he needed to be. It was a rather plain and dead looking area. Even the grass, which should probably still be green, had a lot of brown patches. Tapping his foot on the dirty, he paused to answer her. "It's not the clearing that's important. It's what's underneath it that is."

"Huh?" Bonnie asked. "What do you mean?"

Enzo shook his head. "It's easier to show you. Come here." He slowly, so she could tell him to stop, reached out to grab her arm. She let him. "Now hold tight, but don't worry. I won't let you fall."

"Wait. What?"

Before she got an answer, Enzo wrapped one arm around her own waist, raised his foot, and slammed it down, breaking apart the ground below them. Down they went. Grass, roots, dirt, and everything in between falling with them. With a scream, Bonnie's arms tightened around him as she shoved her face into his chest to keep debris out of her eyes. Hand swatting at the bigger rocks and clumps of earth to keep the two of them from actually getting injured, Enzo, for the first time, was greeted with the underground cavern Lissa said was there.

Fifteen, maybe twenty, feet down, they were in a circular area with a couple of offshoot passageways. Walls lined with thick tree roots keeping them from caving in. The air was hazy but only because of the violent way he's busted in. That would change in a few minutes as everything settled down. But the thing that drew the eyes was the carved boulder on the opposite wall. Directly at head height was a pentagram clearly, painstakingly, carved into the rock.

A beat or two passed as Enzo studied the area and Bonnie collected herself before the dark haired girl wretched away from him, fury on her face. "What the hell was that?" She hissed, eyes watering as dust in the air irritated them.

Shrugging, he grinned wolfishly at her. "You need to confront your fear. I needed to create a shortcut to the cavern. It's a win win."

"Win, win?" She sputtered. "How is a hole in the ground going to help with a fear of vampires? Besides one causing my heart to explode."

"There." He nodded at the boulder/door.

"A wall with a pentagram? That's your answer?"

Eyes sliding shut to find his patience, Enzo sighed. "Get closer and put your ear against the wall. And listen." Bonnie's brow crinkled but ultimately figured there couldn't be much to lose so did as she was told. Only glancing behind herself once to check he hadn't moved. Slowly, she laid her ear flush with the rock.

In a matter of seconds she jumped away, eyes wide with fright. She had finally heard what he'd been listening to since they'd landed; soft shuffling and light groans of desiccated vampires trying with all their might to reach the first hint of blood–her–they'd smelt in over a century. "What was that? Who's behind this?"

"Vampires." He stated, hands in his pocket. "Desiccated in Stefan and Damon's time by a witch and a group of nosey humans."

Wonder and a hint of, dare he say it, sympathy filled her eyes as she laid her hand back against the wall. "They've been here for that long?" She whispered. "And they're still alive?"

"Ye~p, immortality is as much a curse as it is a gift in this instance. Desiccation is painful. Imagine your flesh rotting away but healing itself immediately all while you still lived. You smell, hear, taste, and feel your flesh die and rot and, finally, dry out, unable to stop it without access to blood." Enzo's face was dark and vacant as he remembered the few times Augustine had forced him to desiccate. Shaking away the memories, he smirked at her. "As you can see, while vampires will always be humanity's natural predators, we can be beaten. Especially if the other side has a witch working with them."

Bonnie frowned at his words, eyes boring into the rock as if she looked hard enough she could see through it. Feet shuffling at the heavy atmosphere that had descended on them, she turned back. "Even if it is painful, I don't want to feel bad for a bunch of murderers. Grams told me that you have to feed on humans to even change. And I'm assuming if the town came together to get rid of these specific ones, it was for a good reason."

"And?"

"And I'm not going to be manipulated by my sympathy for even the worst type of people."

Stalking forward, he ignored her tiny steps backwards. "You eat meat, correct?" How is it any different for farmers and animal plantations to kill pigs, cows, and everything in between for your food but for us vampires it's bad?"

"Because they're animals, not humans!" She retorted, glare digging into him.

"Animals feel pain, feel emotion. Humans know and understand this. That's why vegetarians and vegans exist. Are you going to suddenly wear off eating meat because by your definition that's murder?" He shot back.

"That's different."

Enzo snorted dismissively before shaking his head. "Of course it is." Walking backward to his place below the initial hole, he relaxed his body. No reason to scare the girl because she annoyed him. "Forget it. The human Vs. animal argument isn't why I brought you here. All I wanted you to see is that vampires can be beaten by regular people. That, while strong, we aren't invincible no matter how we try and portray ourselves as."

Bonnie pursed her lips and for a moment he thought she'd continue to argue but she didn't. Instead she looked down at her feet before changing the subject. "So what now? I've seen vampires can be beaten. What do I do now?"

"Try some magic." He suggested, bending over to grab a fallen leaf. "Lift this off my hand with your magic."

"In case you've forgotten, I can't use my magic."

"Good lord, Bonnie, just try it." He rolled his eyes, English accent deeper in his annoyance. "Unless you want to admit your failure."

Huffing, she shot daggers at him but did walk over, hands raised above the leaf. The anticipation was thick before, finally, the leaf raised up one, two, three inches before dropping back down, missing his hand to float softly to the ground. Mouth open in a large grin, Bonnie jumped at Enzo, hugging him tightly. Before he could even try and hug her back, she pulled away, blush rising to her cheeks but happy smile still on her face. "Thank you, Enzo."

He smirked back at her. "That was all you, Little Witch. All I did was help you tap into some bravery."

Magic restored and hole to the tomb made, the two left the place with one supernatural jump from Enzo. The trip back to Bonnie's was filled with actual chatter this time; now that Bonnie didn't believe he would walk her to her death. ("So you and Lissa-" "No, honestly is everyone in this town going to think I'm sleeping with my best friend?" "Probably, you two are weirdly close, even I can see that and I just met you.")

The only hiccup was when they'd gotten her home. They were greeted with the sight of Stefan speaking with Sheila on the porch. And pleasantly at that. Which was unfair in Enzo's opinion. If she was going to be prejudice against vampires, the least she could do is make it a universal hatred.

According to the other vampire, he'd come to check up on Bonnie, citing concern as she was a good friend of his girlfriend. He's hidden an eye roll at that. The goody two shoes act not fooling him. Stefan was trying to see how the other supernatural elements of the town felt about him. With a very watched over goodbye to Bonnie, Enzo left the Bennett witches much more liked than he'd been in the beginning.

Pulling into his own driveway later, Enzo's shoulder's dropped from the tense hold he'd had and a small smile graced his face.

Lissa's SUV was in the driveway. She was back.

Hurrying inside, he was greeted with the sight of her in one of the many oversized thrifted sweaters. The words 'Grandpa's fishin' Sweater' across the front of it with a sort of wonky fish embroidered on it. It was so big he couldn't tell if she was wearing shorts, but knowing her, probably not. Her white hair was pulled up into what was probably originally a messy but had fallen into a half up ponytail. She was talking to someone on her cellphone, other hand flapping around as she tried to emphasize her argument to whoever it was. When she saw him though, she smiled happily, blowing him a kiss as he passed by on his way to the kitchen.

Grabbing a blood bag from the mini fridge they kept them in, he ripped the corner off to pour it into a glass as he listened into her conversation.

"Klaus, I swear to any and all gods, it's better to ease my sister into the idea of being sacrificed than it is to just spring it on her. Remember you need her blood afterwards too. I don't–no, do not interrupt me! How rude!– I get you're in a hurry but you're also a thousand years old. Dig deep and find an ounce of patience you should have learned in that time and follow the plan we already agreed on. If I don't think it's working, we'll switch to yours."

There was silence, her phone speaker not loud enough that he could hear it through the kitchen walls and over the microwave. Walking back to the living room, he watched, amused, as Lissa rolled her eyes at what was being said. He sat his glass of blood down on the side table as he grabbed one of the history books he'd been trying to get through to catch up on current, or not so current, events. Half an ear on what was going on.

Now that he was in the same room, he could hear the European accent that Klaus had. Enzo wasn't sure how he felt about Lissa being so close to two of the Original vampires–that was a lie. He hated it. Even just the rumors he'd picked up since he'd been out painted a gruesome picture of the Mikaelson Family–but, regardless, he wasn't going to try and dictate what Lissa did. The girl wouldn't let him even if he tried.

But she knew he was there if she needed him. And that was enough for him.

"My guy, just get the witch you said you would and we're gucci. Like I've said a thousand times now, the wolf and vampire will make their way to Mystic Falls in a couple of weeks. Maybe in the meantime, undagger Kol if you're having trouble with the witches."

A rather quick rejection came shooting through the speakers. Lissa huffing at the words. Enzo eyed the phone, half wanting to take it himself to say something about listening to Lissa since she normally got what she wanted, but knew it wouldn't help. Instead he stayed quiet.

Lissa trekked on despite the rejection. "I get you want to do this alone, but getting your siblings to help may be best. This way they don't try to kill you when you see them next. Even just Elijah. Does he still think you put the coffins at the bottom of the ocean or have you come clean yet?"

Based on the face Lissa made, Klaus' answer of 'no' was not what she wanted to hear. Figuring he didn't need to eavesdrop into her conversation, Enzo focused back onto his book. A couple of minutes passed with him just reading before he tuned back in with Lissa's laughter. "Klaus, that wasn't me sending you an insult. It was a meme. Like a joke." She giggled, face lighting up. "How are you both simultaneously so well versed in modern stuff then memes trip you up?"

Some more laughter before the call was ended with a promise to text the Original vampire. Lissa shook her head at the phone, smile on her face as she turned to him. "Enzo! Did you have fun with Bonnie today?" She asked, standing to grab the remote on the TV stand. He'd been right; she wasn't wearing any shorts. As she passed him, she bent down to kiss him on the forehead, reminiscent to how she did when he was in captivity. Looks like he wasn't the only one feeling mushy today.

"Like you said, she's not bad. A bit judge and quick to draw opinions currently but the potential is there. I think today helped get her more open to help." He answered. "I also grabbed those grimoires you wanted. They're in the trunk. But what about you? How'd the trip go?"

Like a dam, Lissa's words burst from her in excitement as she told him everything. The night continued long past that, topics flowing form the trip to her plans with Klaus to how she was dealing with Kol in her brain–despite her reassurances of contentment, he could tell she was still doctoring her words–to even mundane things like a shopping list or dinner plans. Neither of them realized that they had missed just talking since they saw each other so regularly compared to when he'd been held by Augustine.

In Augustine all they could do was talk about things despite the short time frame. Now they could do other things instead of talking so they didn't do it as often. He'd missed it and so had she. It wasn't until late, three in the morning late, that the two of them actually put their cups in the sink and slunk off to bed; tired but with much lighter hearts. Enzo still, like every night she slept in the same house as him, listened from his bedroom as she put her music on and was in bed before he himself closed his eyes.

Thank you for reading~