Disclosure:  Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. 

Pre Edit Count –   2,163 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Too Close by Alex Clare.

Previous:

Sighing as she thinks about the lost opportunities, she tells him seriously, “Take him back.  Remember what Bonnie said? She doesn’t see any issues, but we shouldn’t take chances.” She lays her head on his shoulder, not happy at all about those lost chances either.

Damon groans as he drops his head on the back of the chair. “Asshole.  You are going to pay for the fact we have to go back home.  There are just too many people at the plantation.” He cannot wait until it is just the two of them.  By the time he is done, there won’t be a place in their home that won’t smell of their mating.

Grinning down at her mate, Bella entices him. “If you break his neck, you might get some road head.  But it all depends on you.” She grins at Damon, knowing that with as horny he always is, and with how much he loves to watch her suck his cock, this would be a very tempting offer.

Damon growls at the enticing thought, and, looking at the vampire, comments, “Bad luck for you.” And with that he makes a twist with the wind and that is all the vampire saw before blackness overcame him.

Now:

A few hours later, Damon strolls into their home escorting Bella and dragging the unfortunate vampire, who was just waking up from his latest broken neck, behind them.   There is no way that the Elemental Master had wanted the vampire to hear how much pleasure his Mate was giving him on the way home. He had learned a new appreciation for her mouth and how to drive when she was doing what she was doing to him…an experience that added an hour or two to their drive time since he’d had to pull over a couple of times.

In the living room, Klaus is reading a book as he waits for the two of them after Bella had called to let them know they were headed home with the vampire. At the strange site of the vampire floating behind them, Klaus blinks a few times, and finally asks, “How are you holding him there?”

With a smirk, Damon divulges to him, “The same way Bella and I held Stefan.  We are just using wind since it’s quieter.” He cannot help but be proud of what all they have learned about their talents – some mystical, some not – this evening.

Feeling satisfied, Bella laughs and tells her uncle, “Seems when we use our powers together, all sorts of things are possible.” She leans back into Damon, and her grin just gets bigger as he wraps his arms around her.

Looking the two in front of him, Klaus just shakes his head. “And they are worried about me and power.  They have no idea what’s coming with the two of you.” He is teasing, but in reality, he is a little alarmed.  What could stop these two if they decide to work for themselves and not for the greater good?

Giving his Mate a kiss, Damon chuckles as he heads to the basement to install the newest resident.  “I thought you were going after Jules,” he inquires as he makes his way to the cells.   Bella had told him about this area and the panic room built into the house.  As he gets closer, he can smell the rooms and wonders why he never found them before.  God knows he spent a lot of time in this house and never suspected what he found down here.

Klaus growls at the turn the night had taken after Bella and Damon had left. “Seems she wanted Tyler, so I took her before she could do anything else.  Luckily our witches were watching and made it easier.  Elijah and I took care of the rogue pack, too.  But this proves what Bonnie said, she doesn’t know the future, just about choices and the outcomes of the major ones.” He is seething. He hadn’t wanted to kill the rogue pack, hoping instead to sway them over to him, but the fact that they had attacked Caroline and were trying to convince Tyler to be on their side had infuriated him.

Damon comes back upstairs, stops behind his Mate to rest his cheek against her head for a second, then looks at them. “Like there may be interference at the ritual, but since we decided to all be there, there will be choice.”  He drops his head onto his Mate’s shoulder from behind her. “I think I need a drink.” He knows there is more to the story that they are not being told, but will wait to find out what is missing.   Right now, he needs a drink.  There is just so much going on that he just needs a moment to sit and relax.

They all chuckle, but head into the library.  Damon makes sure Bella is comfortable sitting behind her desk, and heads to the bar area and pours himself some bourbon, then shakes the bottle to see if the rest would like some.  His Mate gives him a look, so he grabs her whiskey and pours her a drink, muttering under his breath, “My whiskey girl.” He finishes pouring the rest the drinks then, after he hands them out, he settles behind Bella commenting, “We may want to rethink this seating arrangement.” As he moves her to make sure they both are comfortable, he smiles watching her drink her whiskey straight.  It was one of the things that first caught his interest.  Not many woman liked whiskey.

She looks back and up at him and says, “Your seat is right there.”  She indicates the chair he had pulled up next to her desk when they had first started trying to log in the books that Elena’s mother had sent them.

Damon rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean.” He then whispers softly in her ear, “Admit it, you like me here with you, touching you.”  He chuckles when he feels the effect of his words through the bond, and settles them both more comfortably into the seat. He lets her know with a pat on her legs that he will keep his promise to make her scream his name multiple times for her tricks earlier on the way home.

She shakes her head at him then looks over at the rest of them. “So we’re as ready as we can be for the ritual?” It has been an eventful night, and the sun is rising, the false dawn already coming through the windows.  She knew that she needed sleep, and that she might be mixing up the dates; it was either tonight, or tomorrow night.

Elijah walks into the room then, and Elena follows him with a perplexed look on her face. She is still getting used to this Mate business, and while being around Elijah makes it easier on her, she still finds that it is odd, particularly when he has told her that he regrets that this is all rushed, but that he will show her his true self afterwards.

After making sure Elena is settled in a seat, he tells them, “The family is all undaggered, and it worked just as we thought.  Sage is there.  Both she and Finn want to meet the two of you.  Since you four are the only Mated pairs right now, they wish to compare notes.” His eyes held mirth as he remembers informing Sage that her student, Damon Salvatore, was not only Mated, but Mated to a woman who had tamed him, somewhat.  She had laughed when he had proudly told her that said Mate is his daughter, and that she has a fire to match Damon’s own.

Damon nods as he checks with Bella through the bond. He may be dominant, but his Mate is his equal in every way.  Plus, he is not stupid: a happy Mate is a Mate who is more than willing to follow his ideas.   And if checking his Mate’s opinion in the bond makes her happy, why would he not do so? “I would agree with that. Any information is better than none, and being rare is great, but not if we don’t have all the information about it.”

They nod, then the group discusses who needs to be together for the ritual, as well as what had happened with Jules.  Damon shakes his head, mentioning, “I would not be too shocked if Katherine is behind this.   This sounds like something she would do, and she seems to have something for Caroline, too.”  He nuzzles his Mate as he thinks, and sends her calm as he feels her agitation at another member of their group being hurt, as well as Katherine being involved.

Then Klaus gets a message on his phone and starts laughing. “The Gods must love us.  Katherine was picked up.”  He shakes his head, knowing that Damon must have been right.  He will like tormenting her, having beaten her at her own game.  She is good, he will give her that, since he has been actively hunting her since she ran from him.

Damon just grins, but the feelings coming from his little Mate are even more malicious than his own.  They both have reasons to want to get their hands on her.  Bella wants to because she messed with what is hers.  Damon wants his revenge for the waste of his time, and to mess with her since she has been messing up his plans for the last couple of months.  Everything seems to trace back to her meddling.

Klaus watches the two of them, and after what he has been told of how badly Katerina treated Damon, he has no problem allowing Damon or his Mate to some retribution. He knows the two of them would have unique ways to get their revenge. He tells them, “If you wish, later tonight Elijah and I can take the two old lovers to the vault, and compel them to stay there.  Roll the rock in front of it, and it won’t be easy for anyone to remove them.  If they do, we have a very short list of who would and how they could.” He shrugs, the list is a short one, and he really isn’t worried about it.  Plus, he is all for letting the bitch know that she is in for a fun time once they are ready for her.

Taking a deep breath, and thinking through the options, Bella finally nods. “It will be best.  No interferences for tomorrow.” As much as she wants to get her revenge, it will be better when she can have more time to dedicate to it.  And she really doesn’t want the bitch here in her home.

Damon squeezes her shoulder, knowing that she wants the elder vampire as much as he wants Edward Cullen in front of him.  However, they both acknowledge that they need to make sure the first step is complete, and that people are ready for the next step. Their revenge is something that they can postpone as she will be there waiting for them.

With agreement on what needs to be done, they all split.  Damon and Bella go upstairs to satisfy their need to Mate, as well as for Damon to keep his promise about returning all the pleasure and teasing she had given to him on the way home.

Elijah goes to check on Elena and see if she is ready to give more blood.  At the rate they are going, they will be tied even more closely than Bella and Damon, and that would be really shocking. Elijah had never seen two people as close as those two, not even Sage and Finn. Elijah is not going to complain, however; his little mate is just too vulnerable and needed as a human for him to be comfortable.  This way she is full of his blood, and will be more before the ritual.  He will not lose her this close to getting everything they ever wanted.

Shaking his head, Klaus heads out to collect and secure Katerina in the tomb. As he drives to the rendezvous point, he cannot help the sadistic smile on his face as he thinks of all that Damon and Bella will be doing with his doppelganger. When he pulls up and see her in the arms of some of the vampires he had sired and who have remained loyal to him, he smiles gleefully as his minions thrust her at him. “Katerina.  Such a pleasure to meet with you.” His voice is mocking, and he is very much looking forward to taking away her hope.  He knows it is mean, but he can’t wait until she meets his niece.

She spits at him, and he just laughs. “Feisty.  Too bad there is no need for you but to relieve some frustrations.  Hmm.  Where to put you?” He taps his finger on his lips for a couple of seconds, then grins malevolently. “I’ve got it!! I can stick you in the horrid tomb where you should have been all these years.”  He laughs as she struggles in his arms, but he soon has her compelled to stay with him. He can see the loathing she has for him and it does nothing but make him smirk.

He pushes her into his car and calls Damon. When he gets his niece on the phone, he tells her, “I got her and am heading out that way right now.” He wonders how much she is like the family, but then she hasn’t had the chance to let those instincts come to the fore.  Not yet.

Bella is grinning lazily at her sated Mate.  “Perfect timing, Uncle.  I will bring the other and we will be out there shortly.” Her grin gets bigger as Damon rolls his eyes, then he gets out of bed knowing she will be watching him as he grabs them some clothes. This time he had made sure to rip theirs into little pieces.  What can he say?  He enjoys knowing that she will be going shopping with him soon, and he plans to toss in some sexy lingerie.

Klaus nods then teases her, “Excellent.  Not too many more of those fun times in the bedroom, I want to get this out of the way.” He loves the new dynamic, a sense of light-hearted fun, his niece adds to his family that wasn’t there before.  He likes this chance to tease her, knowing she will enjoy it since no one with a mating drive like those two have would be shy.

He grins as he hears her laughter peal through the phone and he hangs up.  He settles in listening to the radio as he heads to the closest parking place to the vault, knowing that it has been visited a lot lately.  His grin widens as he thinks of his favorite warfare, that of psychological kind.  He loves it when his reputation precedes him and does all the work.   Since the two of them know what is coming, he has the chance to do it to the victim beside him.

Katherine can’t help it and asks, “Uncle?” She raises an eyebrow at Klaus as she tries to figure out what the angle is.  She knows there is no way someone could legitimately claim him as that.

His grin turns into a smirk; he had known she wouldn’t be able to resist.  “Yes.” He says nothing more. The less he gives away, the better the shock factor.  He suspects even Elijah has a desire for revenge, in fact, the more he thinks about it, he realizes that no one in their group has been spared from this temptress beside him. This will make for interesting times when Damon and Bella go to take their vengeance.  He wonders if Bella would allow the rest of them to get in a hit or two.

Katherine shakes her head. “You and your siblings have no children, how can you be an uncle?” This tidbit doesn’t fit in with her calculations, and somehow she knows this will affect her since she missed something that any of the Mikaelsons would treasure.

Recognizing the question as a fish for information, Klaus raises a brow and chuckles.  “You think you know so much about us, and you have no real idea.  No worries, she is my niece, we have it proven and everything.  Jealous?” He turns his head enough to raise an eyebrow at the woman beside him, the smirk still on his face.

Turning away from him and looking out the window, she huffs, “No.” Yes.  Anyone who can claim to be family with the Originals will have more power than she could ever accrue.

Klaus laughs, knowing that not knowing what all is going on is eating her alive.  It had always been a weakness of hers.  And finding out that someone is close to his family?  In a position of power?  Oh yes, he can tell by the set of her shoulders that she is upset.

He pulls up to a well-worn parking spot on the side of the road, gets out of the car, grabs her roughly, and pulls her towards the tomb.  When she realizes where he is taking her, she pulls slightly, and he just laughs, knowing that neither his compulsion nor his strength would let her get away.  He drags her down the steps, and then waits.

She tries to twist out of his hands, knowing it is useless, but something in her will not allow her to give up.  Then she hears a familiar voice above her talking to someone, and involuntarily looks up in hopes that he would act like normal and spring to her rescue. She starts smiling smugly, knowing that she may be close to escaping.

What comes over the lip is a surprise to her, Damon is walking next to a brunette who is stunning, and he’s laughing with her …and Elijah?  Then her eyes light on Stefan who is following them down, looking as though he is under a compulsion, too.  She is confused to say the least, but what happened with her little doppelganger and the Salvatores?  Why is she not with them? Her sources tell her that they are usually squabbling over her.

Bella looks down into the pit as she descends the stairs, her old clumsiness no longer an issue when she is with her father and her Mate.  She knows they will catch her one way or the other.  Looking down at the two vampires waiting for her and her family along with Stefan, her eyes brighten. “Uncle!  You brought me a gift?” Her grin is infectious, and the rest of them smile at her.

Klaus gives her a little bow as he answers, “Of course, dear.  What better way to greet the newest members of the family?” He watches proudly as she comes down the stairs, his grin just getting bigger as Damon hands her off the stairs into the place they were.  The torches were lit, Klaus having no idea why, but they had lit up as he entered, and the delight he easily sees in his niece’s eyes gives him the sense that she is his blood. There is no denying it, not with how much she looks like her father at this second.

After making sure his Mate is on the ground, and glancing at her father and uncle to make sure they are watching over her, Damon walks in front of Katherine, and he chuckles.  “I just bet you were thinking I was here to save you, didn’t you?” He cannot help it, the need to play the game is there, and he loves to rile this woman up. Now he has nothing to lose, where before he had been sacred to do so because he had been a lovesick fool.  No more.  Not with Bella around.

Bella chuckles.  She steps in front of her Mate and looks the woman in front of her up and down.  Then she asks Damon, “Really?” Her eyebrow is lifted, and neither Klaus nor Elijah can keep their laughter completely hidden.  The look on her face says it all to her Mate.

Before Damon could react, Bella turns to face them, “And don’t let me start with either of you two.  It would be wise to keep quiet before I make comments about you two and her.   Didn’t she start a feud between you that had you at each other’s throats for decades, if not centuries?”  Both have a proud smirk on their lips as they watch their family member, their pride obvious.

Keeping his own laughter hidden, Damon leans forward to lay kisses on her neck, his hands slipping around her waist. “I had no idea of you.  If you had been even in my dreams, carissima, I would have never have wasted any time with her.”  He sends his love, his adoration for her through the bond, and barely manages to control his purr when she sends the same feelings back to him.  Yep, no other woman would even come close to rivaling his affections for her.

Katherine rolls her eyes. “Please.  You wanted me, and still do Damon.” She puts her hand on her hip, displaying her body for the three males that have fought over her in the past, trying to use her assets to get her out of trouble.

The group laughs at her as Klaus informs her, “My dear, let me tell you a tale.  Have you ever heard of Mates?  You are looking at one of the three pairs in the world, and one of the two who are fully Mated.  And let me tell you, what they can do together boggles the mind.  And then there are their talents.” He shakes his head at himself.  This woman had caused strife between him and his closest brother, and now he just can’t see what the attraction could have been.   But back then, she had been more innocent.  The temptress act does nothing but disgust him.

She struggles in Klaus’s hold, and Bella sighs, “Really?”  She waves her hand and Katherine is encased in a shield with Damon’s wind on the outside.  She then uses that wind to lift the vampire up.  “Damon, is this another one of those sucky sires?” She holds her head to the side, knowing it makes her look like a ditz, but she has adopted Damon’s idea that hiding her true self is often a good idea.

Damon can’t help but laugh as he pulls her closer to him. “Yes, carissima.  She didn’t stick around to help either my brother or me in our transition.  Luckily, she had taught me some lessons as a human.” He nuzzles her neck, and they both laugh in their bond as they watch Katherine seethe in front of them.

Katherine is so mad by this point and finally asks the woman before her who she thinks is a human, “Please.  Without me, he wouldn’t be here.  It’s my blood that runs through his veins, and once you’re dust, he will be back panting at my heels.” She shrugs her hair off her shoulder with a practiced move.  She needs to believe this.  Damon’s love for her is one of her cornerstones.  She has always believed that she would have it no matter what happens.  That, and Stefan too. But Stefan, while being the brother she prefers, had moved on while Damon worked to get her out of her so-called hell. The fact that she wasn’t in it didn’t matter.  If she needed a boost, she could always look at him working to get her out of her prison before going off to work on whatever her new plan was.

Looking over the bitch who had left her Mate to flounder on his own, Bella couldn’t help the laugh as she comments, “She really has no idea, nor is she very smart.”

She looks at the bitch in front of her and tells her slowly, as though she is speaking to an idiot, “Damon is mine, and my blood runs as much through his veins as his does mine.  He has no need to pant at your heels, since if for some reason I am dust, he will be too.  Now, I think it is time for you to go into this pretty little cage you had created for other vampires.  It is rather fitting for you to be in there instead.  We even brought you a roommate.  It will be reunion for the books, I suspect.” She stares down the vampires in front of her, her eyebrow lifting up.  The stupid act can come later; this idiot in front of her pissed her off with her comment.

Damon purrs to his Mate, calming her.  He just smirks when Katherine starts to screech, and ignores her as he comments to the others, “God how I hated her temper tantrums.  You would think one as old as she is would have learned not to throw them anymore.” He shakes his head at Katherine as the rest chuckle.

Bella just shakes her head in shock at the old vampiress having a fit as Elijah and Klaus throw her into the vault.

Stefan is much easier even after Elijah removes his compulsion.  He blinks a couple of times then closes his eyes as he sees what is in front of him.  Turning, he looks his brother in the face and asks, “You couldn’t give me a grave?  I have to get stuck with the witch?”

Damon just smirks and tells him, “You love her, brother dearest.  We will come back for you after tomorrow.  It won’t be long.  Maybe you will calm down by then and we can all discuss things without you throwing around ultimatums?  Might want to think about that.” Stefan shakes his head and mutters as he walks into the vault.

Klaus compels the two of them, and then Elijah closes the door to confine them.  Klaus brushes off his hands. “That’s done. What’s next?” He leans back on the wall to see what the two in front of him come up with now.

Bella laughs. “You might just make Uncle of the Year.” She grins at him, glad that he is nowhere nearly as bad as the rumors claim.  She likes her Uncle; he’s a lot of fun.

Klaus can’t help but laugh with the tiny woman in Damon’s arms.  He admires the two as they stand there.  “I don’t know, caging her and making her float was pretty awesome.” He teases her while praising the two of them for the ideas that they keep coming up with on to deal with issues.

Elijah rolls his eyes, and starts walking up the stairs. “Dusk is coming, and I want us all back at the plantation.  It is more defensible than being out here.” He also is feeling the pain from being away from Elena.  It is worse than normal now that she has acknowledged the bond, but he wants her nowhere around her ancestor or her ex-boyfriend.

Damon nods, then smirks as he asks Elijah, “You want to go back with Klaus or by Air Damon?” He had laughed at Elijah when he had complained that there are now cars for a reason.   Damon had enjoyed showing off, and that was all it was, a huge way to showoff.

Elijah couldn’t help but laugh. “Once was enough.  I will head back with Klaus, we need to talk anyways.” He has picked on the two for their now preferred mode of transportation, but he cannot deny the thrill he had flying with them.  He had never looked into having a familiar before, but Damon had said that having one came with bonuses that even flying that way didn’t.  Damon had then told Bella he would work with her to gain a familiar.  Elijah thought he might join them for that exercise.

Damon just shrugs then envelopes them all in a cage of air. He takes them to Klaus’s car, drops Elijah and Klaus off, then flies Bella and himself toward home. En route, he brings up the plantation, mentioning that he would like Bella to look it over so she could see what kind of work was needed. She agrees, and the two veer off for a brief stopover at the Salvatore Plantation.

Klaus just stares after them. “They really are formidable aren’t they?” He cannot get over how much easier it seems for the two of them to accomplish more and more each day.

Elijah grins. “Yep.  And they are on our side.  I will say, the trip over here was quite fun.  Damon can get Bella going, and the two of them, well, let’s just say I don’t think their future will ever be boring.” He grins, proud of his daughter and her Mate.

A brief longing flashes in Klaus’s eyes as he comments, “No, I wouldn’t think it would ever be boring with the two of them.” He wishes for what they have.  He loves his family, but they are angry with him, justifiably so, but still.  Right now his new niece is the one closest to him, and she has no idea who he really is.

Elijah sees the look and tells him, “Cheer up.  You don’t know when you will find your Mate.  So stop with the longing looks, and never let Damon see it.  His instincts are going crazy.  Just be happy that tomorrow will end your era of pain.” His voice is harsh, but what they didn’t need now was for Klaus and Damon to get into a fight.  It wouldn’t be pretty, and it would all be for nothing.  Klaus sees Bella as family, but Damon has not accepted Klaus as Bella’s family.

Klaus grins mischievously at the thought of that fight, but then nods as he gives in to the wisdom of his older brother, a time honored tradition.  There is a reason why the two of them have gotten along over the years.  “On to the oh-so-fun-plantation stuffed full of people we couldn’t really care less about, except for a very small few?”

Elijah chuckles. “Onward, James.” He needs his Mate, but he also misses this side of Klaus.  He settles into the seat, and the two of them pick right back up as if they hadn’t been enemies for longer than America has been a country. And for a time, the brothers act like brothers the world over, forgetting the many years of fighting as only siblings can.

Final count:  5,157 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy

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