a/n: I know y'all hate Ryos, but Voodoo is a part of some people's heritage, and it's heavily blended in here. Please don't make fun of it in your hatred of him.

p.s. long-ass author's note at the end, please read and contribute thoughts <3

03/02/2012

Elijah and MJ had taken Klaus back to The Compound, Papa Tunde's dagger in his chest. His shirt was off, body on a bed, MJ looking over the massive red wound and not liking it.

The long scar started in the middle of his ribs, delicate lines in multiple directions, on top of a faded version from his earlier experience — physical damage from the dark magic in the blade.

MJ was biting her lip and trying not to feel bad about putting him in pain.

They'd needed to give Rebekah and Marcel a chance to run.

Elijah looked just as conflicted about the situation as his brother's eyes opened, breathing haggard.

Klaus growled at her when she inched closer, trying to feel for the magic.

"This was all you," His brother reminded him.

MJ looked away from the wound, choosing to focus on his tattoos.

She'd never seen them before...

The feather up his arm was made of a dark navy blue ink, the top turning into birds flying away and over his shoulder, towards his collar bone.

"I don't hate it."

Klaus managed to glance at where she was looking, and the hatred in his eyes turned from 'murder' to 'might stab.'

"Mira," Elijah sounded ready to explode, "Your phone."

It wasn't on her, "What about it?"

"It's in your room," His focus was fixed on his brother, "And it won't stop ringing."

"You really want me to leave you alone with him to answer it?"

"If it'll make it stop."

Elijah was going through a lot given the familial betrayal and vengeful ex, so MJ backed out the door with two hands up.

"I'll make it stop."

They'd been back for an hour and a bit, working out how long they could leave Klaus somewhat incapacitated, trying to plan the next steps against the resurrected witches. And, if need be, next steps against Klaus.

During that time, her phone had exploded with texts.

Caroline and Stefan spamming her about Nadia, and Matt, and Katherine, and Elena.

Before she could read any of the messages properly, Stefan was calling her again.

She answered. "Guys – "

"Finally!" He cheered.

"Guys – "

"We need to – "

"Guys!"

That stopped him.

"Whatever's going on," MJ spoke slowly, "How big of a deal is it? Because I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"The biggest of deals," Caroline answered firmly.

"On a scale of one to ten."

"...A nine?"

"Okay," She reluctantly closed the door to the room, "I'm listening."

There was a beat as they both took a breath, planning out what to say.

"We think Katherine's possessing Elena."

08/01/2012

The day after the death of Katherine Pierce, Caroline had phoned MJ for her 'I'm feeling guilty' girl talk, but she'd also received a text from Elena that wasn't exactly from Elena.

Katherine was sitting in a hotel room, in Elena's body, staring at her texts, ignoring every time Damon called.

- Hey

It seemed like a good place to start

- I have some stuff I wanna say, but I wanna do it on a phone call.

Katherine had a list of things to sort out if she wanted to make her new life her ideal one.

1.       Vampirism - check
2.       Ditch Damon for Stefan – in progress
3.       Fix relationship with MJ – beginning

If she was sticking around Mystic Falls, she needed to maintain Elena's friendships, or at least fade them out naturally, and some of those were going to be easy.

Caroline was fun, Matt was fun to look at, and Bonnie was living in recently-resurrected-dating-Jeremy bliss.

The problem was MJ.

Katherine wanted her friend in her life, but the bridges between Elena and MJ had been burnt down pretty spectacularly.

- Give me a call when you can

- When you're back in New Orleans, so you're not driving or anything.

She had a cover story ready to explain Elena's sudden interest in repairing the friendship properly.

She could use her break-up with Damon as a catalyst for self-evaluation and change, but she still needed to be careful. MJ was smart. If it was too out of the blue or underprepared, she'd notice that something was off, and Katherine knew that no friendship the pair had would be prioritised over MJ's Santa's Little Helper complex.

If MJ knew Elena had been kicked out of her body, she'd start to feel guilty about lying to Stefan and Caroline. She'd want to move her somewhere else – but Katherine didn't want to be anyone else.

The conversation would need to be a little awkward, apologetic and nervous, and genuine, and overly emotional.

She was pretending to be Elena Gilbert, after all.

The door to the dingy room opened, Nadia coming in, "Ryos says he needs your corpse."

"My corpse?" Katherine pulled a face, glancing at the motel car park through the window, "Could he be any creepier?"

Nadia rolled her eyes, "Be nice. Without Ryos, you wouldn't be alive – or in Elena's body right now."

"I know. I'd be dead, in my corpse. A corpse that some Floare playing Traveller says he needs," Katherine stuck her chin out, "You see how that's creepy?"

"Do you want control of Elena's body or not?"

"Look, I get it, okay," Katherine slowly sat down in a chair, "We have no idea when Elena's consciousness is going to pop out."

Nadia had moved to the bed, loudly pulling something out of her bag.

"Now," Katherine crossed her arms, "Do you want to tell me what you're doing over there?"

"Get on the bed," Nadia was holding handcuffs, "Just in case Elena decides to show up while I'm out getting your body."

"So, I'm – "

Her phone started buzzing again.

" – Just going to be stuck in some hotel room," She held the device up for Nadia to see, "While Damon Salvatore leaves me voicemails?"

Nadia wasn't interested.

She moved to sit on the bed, "Remind me again how this is better than being dead?"

"Because once Ryos does the spell, Elena will be gone forever," Nadia clipped the cuffs in place, "And that body will be yours for good."

Katherine sighed, letting her daughter handcuff her to the bed before heading back to the town to try and get the body off the Salvatore's.

That plan didn't go well, forcing them to make a choice.

Even though Elena's consciousness had reappeared during the day, Katherine would go to a party at Tyler's house to find out where the body was herself, using Matt to prep.

Then, Katherine hadn't even needed to find Damon to ask for the body.

Damon had told Stefan that he'd put her body exactly where she was meant to be, and she knew what that was code for. The vampire tomb. Nadia texted Ryos after going to check she was right, and Katherine ended up being the last one there, having set off the Klaus-Caroline bombshell as a distraction

Ryos hadn't waited for her, though.

He'd set up the spell, starting the initial steps

The ground was washed with salt water, enough to have created a thin layer for them to slosh through, like a rain flooded road in the aftermath of a storm, body in the middle, skin shining with droplets, bunching up the clothes and wet hair stringy. Different sized candles created a circle around them, all tall enough to avoid being put out in the splashes of footsteps; two large torches stabbed into the ground and burning strongly, bright in colour and steady, no wind to fight against yet.

Across one of the walls, a series of pegs were dug into the stone, amulets hung across them, different lengths, metal at the bottom and still – as if they were waiting for something.

Beneath the display, he'd use yellow spray paint to create a leaf shape, the tip touching Katherine's feet beneath the water, an asterisk star shape overlapping both. One side of the leaf filled was with smaller asterisks, stripes and thick coloured lines marking the other side. Around the diagram where a collection of sigils completing the altar, mimicking an urban design he'd been sent a few years back.

"Took you long enough," Ryos commented as Katherine arrived, a wax sticker pressed on his forehead, meant to protect his mind from unintentional possession.

The thing that caught the most attention, other than the drenched corpse, was a bird sitting on one of the pegs, head-turning as it watched them, completely silent.

"I was pretending to care," She walked past her own body, looking over it, "It was very time-consuming."

The grey hairs she'd developed made her look old, and she didn't like it. Her eyes were closed, wet skin plasticky, rat-tail like greying hair.

She was dead.

Nadia didn't like looking at the body either, "Let's get it over with."

He'd just finished consecrating the spot, honouring the Loa deities.

"Wait," Katherine shook her head and focused on Ryos, "I have a few questions firsts."

"Elena could be back at any moment," Nadia reminded her.

"I'm aware," She'd take the risk, "But he's supposed to be a natural do-gooder, so I want to know what he's getting from this."

Ryos smiled to himself, rolling up his shirts linen sleeves, the tattooed lines on his arms becoming visible.

They'd been covered up for his entire day with Caroline and Stefan, and Katherine couldn't help but eye them up now.

"He was trying to get Caroline and Stefan to like him, and doing this won't do that."

"True," He stretched his neck, "But they won't find out about this."

"And you're just okay with helping me hijack an innocent girl's life?" She challenged, "For all I know, this is a set-up to get rid of me for good, so you can 'remove the bad influences from your sister's life.'"

"You and me both know that Elena Gilbert is hardly innocent."

Katherine straightened up at the steely look in his eye.

"I want MJ's friends to like me. Elena isn't her friend."

"What do you know about the situation?" Katherine was listening to his heartbeat, "You haven't been here."

"I don't need to be here to know things."

Katherine didn't trust that.

"MJ gave me a glamorised version of her life. I can fill in the blanks and realise Elena's the root of all this," He rubbed his hands together, "And, it was surprisingly easy to get in Damon Salvatore's head."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"When?"

"Does it matter?"

"Little bit."

"I've been floating around town for a week now. I've seen him about."

Still vague, but Katherine accepted it.

She didn't know that Damon had been taken prisoner by Wes, and she certainly didn't realise Ryos had had anything to do with it. Damon didn't even know he'd had anything to do with it any more after the mind-wipe.

"Anyway," He gestured to the body, "Are we doing this?"

"Go ahead."

Out of his back pocket, he pulled out a bell. It rung twice, then was lowered to Katherine's head to bless it, returning to them and switched for a knife.

"To seal Katherine's spirit inside Elena's body, I'll need some of your blood."

Katherine held her hand out, happy to be back in a world where cuts didn't hurt half as much

"And then...." He stabbed the bloody knife into Katherine's chest, jamming it between her ribs and cutting down the centre.

"You mutilate my body," Katherine was less than impressed, "Lovely."

"Travellers don't have access to traditional magic. They improvise," Ryos tugged on the top of his shirt, giving her a peek at some of the tattoos again, "We're using their spells. We gotta do this their way."

He pulled the knife out and stabbed it into another spot.

"This doesn't look like Traveller Magic."

"I may have edited the spell a little."

"With what?"

"What I know best."

"This doesn't look like Floare Magic either."

"Who said I was talking about Floare magic."

The weapon was pulled out, Katherine staring at him, trying to figure out what that meant.

"I've been studying Lousiannan Voodoo since I was, like, seven."

She curled her lips in, slightly impressed.

"A massive part of their practice is letting their spirits possess people."

"But you're moving me, not summon some random spirit."

"Hence why I've combined the two," He smiled a little, "Now sh."

She did as instructed, watching closely.

They expected him to start chanting as Ryos changed his posture, drawing in power, but the words coming out of his mouth were sung.

MJ and Ryos had thing in common. They both had their mothers gifts; magic and music, but while MJ had been good with music, she'd excelled at magic. Ryos had been the reverse. Music, then magic, voice trained and soothing.

"Lafanmi o, an n rasanble nan demanbre a,
n pral fè seremoni an.
Limen balenn nan – o an n rele prchající kočka yo."

The first change to the traditional lyrics, which was technically a massive no-no.

Songs were meant to come from the gods, not used for your personal gain, but voodoo practise had survived to the present day by reframing itself around other religions. He was 'reframing' by merging it with Traveller Magic.

He'd created a doll to represent Katherine's spirit, titling it 'prchající kočka' to replace Lwa – magic focused on her, not his deities, to make the spell work, having to switch it in the songs.

"Sonnen ason an – rele Papa Legba.
Nan kafou a, o nou angaje.
Papa Legba – louvri baryè pou lwa yo."

Papa Legba was a Lwa, but one who bridged humanity and the spirit realm, guarding the crossover point and controlling what happened between the worlds.

"Lafanmi o, an n rasanble nan demanbre a."

Katherine and Nadia both took a step back as the lines of the tattoos started to glow white.

He made the third cut, eyes bright blue instead of brown, voices seeming to come from the candles to join his spell, making the entire atmosphere shift.

"N pral fè seremoni an.
Limen balenn nan – o an n rele prchající kočka yo."

The choir of flames were the souls of spirits watching them, held in the wick and infiltrating the air they were forced to then breathe in. It was impossible to not feel out of place in your own body, as if they were trying to take control of them like puppets. He was the only one wearing the protective sticker.

The piece was tied together by the hanging amulets, wind swinging them like metronomes, knocking into each other in a steady rhythm. Each ting was a certain pitch.

"Sonnen ason an – rele Papa Legba.
Nan kafou a, o nou angaje."

Despite the unnerving nature of it all, Ryos's voice stayed melodic and perfectly in tune, beauty in the chaos.

"Papa Legba – louvri baryè pou lwa yo."

That was when Katherine let herself look at the bag Ryos had brought with him, trinkets poking out. The voodoo doll was near the top, and she wanted to grab it, not knowing it was key to making the spell successful.

"Lafanmi o, an n rasanble nan demanbre a,
n pral fè seremoni an."

Unfortunately, when she took a step towards it, Elena woke up.

"Limen balenn nan – o an n rele prchající kočka yo."

She had no clue who Ryos was, but she saw Katherine's corpse, Nadia, and magic. And, she knew she needed to be subtle if she didn't want Nadia to figure her out again.

A half-turn away, making it seem like she was taking a breather while actually trying to think.

"Sonnen ason an – rele Papa Legba.
Nan kafou a, o nou angaje.
Papa Legba – louvri baryè pou lwa yo."

"So," She spoke loudly to try and interrupt his concentration, "What's happening now?"

"Katherine."

The blue of his eyes was like a black hole, targeted at her and oddly captivating.

"If you want to say goodbye to Elena forever, I need silence."

She shifted, looking for anything that could help her.

Nadia faced her, eyes going up and down, "Are you okay?"

"Save your daughterly concern," She could play Katherine if she tried, "I'm fine."

Ryos made the fourth cut, soft flames sparking into roaring blue ones reflecting off the tomb walls like it was a seaside cave bridging their world with another.

Nadia smiled, "You never told me where you wanted to go."

"Uh...Where I wanted to go?"

"Once we complete the spell. Where should we start our world? Or – "

"Let me finish," Ryos repeated, all the light in the tomb turning off for a second as the spell paused, "Just a few more seconds and I'll be done, and the pair of you can talk for the rest of time."

They both nodded awkwardly.

"Thank you."

He ran his hand up the blade, getting the blood onto his fingers, moving from the invocation art of the ritual to possession itself.

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat – "

Elena vamp-sped into him, whamming his back into the stone wall with a loud crack to instantly knock him out.

"Elena," Nadia realised, "Vet – "

She used one of the torches to stake her, then grabbed the back of her throat to shut her up.

"What was that?" Elena twisted as Nadia tried to say it again, "I couldn't quite hear you?"

Then she was gone, vanishing into the wind and desperate to find anyone who could help her.

Nadia yanked the stake out, rushing to Ryos's side.

She'd heard the crack, blood on his head from where he'd hit stone, and she needed to wake him up/check he was alive.

"Ryos!"

Luckily for her, he groaned awake, running his slightly bloody hands through his hair.

The wound on his knuckles seemed to vibrate before fading away.

He was back on his feet.

He looked at her bloody stomach, "Are you okay?"

"...Just finish the spell."

Elena had pulled out her phone to try and call someone as she ran, but her passcode wasn't working. Katherine had changed it. She tried to guess what it might've been from what she knew about Katherine but ended up just getting locked out for ten minutes.

"No. No. No," Her grip tightened, "You've gotta be kidding me."

She looked around the people, hearing music.

If there was a party, she had to hope she'd know at least one person there – or she could use a house phone to make a call.

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo," Ryos placed his palms over two of the flames, the entire room returning to the unnatural lighting, "Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

Elena was running, stumbling as she started to see things.

People.

A man ripping a bundle from her arms - a baby, as her voice yelled out in another language.

"Oh my god," She was seeing Katherine's life, "No."

She tried to keep moving, to get through the trees and back to civilisation.

"Katerina," She spun at Elijah's voice, "May I introduce to you the Lord Niklaus."

"Call me Klaus."

She was hit with the image of Damon – Damon pinning her to a wall, fangs out, pounding heartbeat, and an angry look in his eyes.

"Kiss me, Damon," Katherine taunted, "Or kill me."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD." Elena begged, "Get – "

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo," Ryos repeated, seeing snippets of it too and feeling the magic in the air as he turned his hands round, fire spreading over the backs of his hands, "Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

Elena's legs were shaking.

She could hear Stefan's voice.

Stefan kissing her, telling her that he'd love her forever, except it wasn't her.

It was Stefan in the 1800s, talking to Katherine – loving Katherine. Loving her before the compulsion, repeating the same sweet nothings after it too, genuine emotion mixing with forced confessions and gestures to keep his fear from ruining what she'd become obsessed with.

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo," Ryos scooped up a pile of ground herbs to start shaking them over the body, then around her, covering the yellow spray-painted altar, "Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

All of them caught fire too.

"At least I fooled one of you," Katherine said to Stefan, standing in the Gilbert House in the modern era.

Elena managed to start running again, "No."

She couldn't let herself stop.

Stopping would cost her her life.

She had to hope that someone would hear her, "Help!"

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo."

With a wave of Ryos hand, the bird flew forward, spelled to be calm and obedient when he'd caught it earlier in the day.

"Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

The knife cut through the bird's throat, a final squark bleeting out as the black eyes lost their light.

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo."

He poured the blood into the corpse's mouth, feeding the spirit power, honouring and thanking his spirits with the sacrifice of an animal, finalising its transference to a new body.

"Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

Katherine's body went up in flames, skin blistering and breaking, the saltwater turning to steam. What was once the smell of a burn body was now overpowered by the calming smell of the ocean, covering the entire scene up.

Elena gripped the side of her face, seeing Katherine stab Stefan outside the Lockwood House.

She was near the Lockwood House.

Then she was biting her brother before feeding him to Silas, feet skidding to a stop in panic.

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo," Ryos's chanting got louder, echoing in Elena's head around the montage of moments from Katherine's life, giving them a home in her mind, "Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

The memory of Elena shoving the cure down Katherine's throat.

A moment of her life turned into a part of her, Elena coughing, choking on it, taste dancing over her tongue.

Her body shutting down to reset.

To turn mortal after over five hundred years of running.

Running.

They were nearly at the present day.

Elena was in a clearing, right outside the Lockwood Estate.

Damon.

Damon was right in front of her, searching for someone who'd have the voice note MJ had made for Tyler and Matt. A voice note was a way to loophole needing her in town to invite vampires in. The Lockwood House was meant to be a safe house after all.

"Damon!" She crashed into his arms, "Thank god."

"What's wrong?" He pressed her tighter into his shoulder.

"Dumi Porvo Vesthat Domo."

Hugging meant he missed the moment her eyes turned black.

"Etha Ani Oio Thomo."

The fire went out.

"It's done," Ryos assured Nadia, the somewhat destroyed body in front of them, "One moment."

He dropped to his knees, eyes closed, performing a final series of taps with the bell, completing the farewelling phase.

The final part, that wasn't for the spell, but more, his peace of mind as someone studying voodoo. He needed to dismiss the other spirits summoned forward by the song, making peace with them and apologising for moving someone to a body they'd hoped to possess.

Katherine slowly pulled out of Damon's arms, stepping back and working out how she could explain the greeting.

"What's wrong?" He tried to touch her face, but she backed away, "Say something...please."

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Katherine kept her voice calm, "We need to talk."

"Yeah," Damon nodded, "I wanna talk too."

He tried to sound warm.

"The message thingies on your phone...that was all me – in case you didn't listen to them."

"I listened to every word."

"So," His eyes dropped to the floor, "You know how bad I screwed up?"

He wanted to take her hand, but she was just out of reach.

"I wussed out, Elena," Damon was fully opening himself up to her, "I bailed because I was convinced I'd ruin you."

"That's not what this is about, Damon."

"I know," His hands came up, "Just hear me out?"

She took another step back.

"Just hear me out," He begged, "You are literally the best person I've ever known."

The idolisation of Elena Gilbert hadn't done anyone any favours.

"And for me to think I could change you gives me way too much credit."

Except, the Salvatore's had changed her from a person into something to argue over – an object.

"And you?"

He moved to her, getting the hand on her cheek.

"Not nearly enough."

In a way, their pedestalling 'you're not Katherine' attitude forced her into a box, never letting her grow.

They needed her to be their sweet and forgiving innocent flower, so that's the only thing they saw her as, ignoring how her innocence and compassion had slowly been drained away with each lost love one. Ignoring how she was now someone willing to murder to keep the people that mattered to her alive.

From some perspectives, they were toxic for her.

"You are the best influence on me."

She let the hand sit there for a moment.

"I need you."

A sire-line dead to keep her brother and her cure safe.

"You are the good."

A very Katherine move.

"And I need a little good in my life."

Though, only one person had pointed out how selfish Elena had become thanks to the Salvatore's involvement in her life. Only one person was challenging her to be better – and that person now lived in a different state.

"Because without it?"

Damon thought he was saying the right things when he was actually feeding Katherine the ammunition she needed to tear him down.

"There's an awful lot of darkness."

Katherine turned away, "That's a lot of pressure, Damon."

"I know, Elena, but – "

"No," She looked back at him, "It's my turn now."

"Yeah," He could work with a conversation, "Okay."

"I love that I make you a better person," Katherine had done the opposite to him in their relationship, "I love that I make you happy, but..."

She closed her eyes and swallowed nervously.

Elena would try to be delicate, so Katherine had to act that way too.

"I don't want to be the only thing you live for."

Damon stilled a little, having been scolded for doing so by MJ already.

"I don't want to worry about what's going to happen every time we get in a fight – or if we break up again."

In Katherine's mind, nothing she was saying was technically incorrect.

"Or who you're going to take it out on."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know what you did to Katherine, Damon," She put it simply, "She was weak and dying, and you still tortured her."

"How is this about Katherine?"

"It's not, okay? It's about you!" She looked him in the eye, "It's about all the times you've tried to kill MJ despite everything she does for us – it's about how you treat Bonnie!"

Katherine remembered Bonnie's rant at Richard Lockwood's funeral, when she'd mistaken her for Elena.

"How you treated Caroline, and how I ended up treating her – them, too."

A sharp inhale.

"This is about the person I can't change. The person you really are. That person was right to let me go."

Stefan was approaching from behind Damon, something Katherine noticed.

"I'm sorry, Damon," She spoke clearly, "But it's over. We're over."

His eyes went wide as she walked away without a second glance, both Salvatore's unaware of the sly smile forming on Katherine's face.

Damon's feet moved goallessly, turning him, forcing him to face his brother.

"Damon," Stefan's voice was quiet and sympathetic.

"Come on," He scoffed, "Deep down, you gotta be enjoying this a little bit."

The same thing Stefan had said to Damon when he and Elena had broken up.

Back in the tomb, Ryos had stood back up, closed his eyes, and started to play with the water. He was telekinetically lifting it up and stretching it out, using it to clean the air and banish the smell of dead people, blood, and burning.

Once it was all gone, he'd packed up his things, content he'd played his part well.

"So that's it?" Nadia was nervous, "It worked?"

"Try not to sound so impressed," He replied sarcastically, voice was far smoother than it had been before, more confident, "But yes. Katherine Pierce has permanent control of Elena Gilbert's body."

Katherine sped into the room, a hand around his throat.

"Let me make myself very clear," She hissed, "My instinct is to kill you."

"I'm fully aware," He wasn't half as scared as she'd expected him to be.

He wasn't even squirming to get out of her hold.

He was smiling.

"Give it go," Ryos challenged, "See what happens."

Silence.

She tried to tighten her grip, but the veins in his neck gleamed blue around them, fighting back to keep his airwaves clear.

Scanning his face and listening?

His heartbeat was steady.

"As tempting as that sounds," Katherine let him go, "You are in a unique situation."

He stretched his head back to shake off the pain, "That you actually care about my sister?"

"Just a little."

"You wouldn't have been able to kill me anyway," Ryos rubbed his hands together, the last of his things flying into his bag.

"If Elena Gilbert can smash your head into a wall, I can kill you."

"She surprised me," He defended, "And I was back on my feet in under twenty seconds."

Katherine eyed him up again. Clear of injuries.

"A good witch can go toe-to-toe with a vampire pretty easily," He stepped closer to her, getting in her face, "And I had two Originals on the floor until my sister got involved – you really think you can take me?"

Katherine didn't retreat, holding his harsh gaze.

"In that baby vampire body?"

A year of immortality.

"Are you kidding yourself?"

His eyes were still blue, not magically glowing, but not the right colour.

Katherine curled a lip in, "What are you?"

"What am I?" He stepped back, smiling, "What do you mean?"

"Those tattoos, your eyes..." She couldn't look away from them, almost in a trance, "Your mixed magic."

Nadia didn't want a fight to break out unless they could definitely kill him, "He's helping us."

"No, no, no," Katherine shook her head, "I know the lore."

She'd done her research post-MJ.

"There's no way he should have this much magic – he's a first child with a human parent. Their bodies aren't strong enough to cast magic like this, this easily. Definitely not strong enough to have any influence on an Original."

Ryos just laughed a little.

"So, how do you do it?"

"None of your business," He picked up his large travelling backpack, "Enjoy your life, Katherine. Remember that I gave it to you."

She snarled, "You've got some nerve."

"I've got a lot more than nerve, Katherine," He mused, "I have all the cards."

A slow and flickering blink and the blue disappeared.

"And if you try to kill me? To tidy up the loose end?"

Because they all knew she wanted to.

"One; you'll fail. Two; my sister will never forgive you."

No matter how complicated his relationship with MJ was, killing the brother she'd idolised since childhood would be an unforgivable act.

"And three?"

She wanted her body to move, to rip his spine out – but she couldn't.

Katherine was swaying slightly, the air sweet and intoxicating, keeping her in her spot, stronger with every word out of his mouth, sending her into a spiral, like he was still singing, a siren sending her to sleep.

"You'll never get to find out any of the answers to your questions if I'm dead."

"You think answers are enough to keep you alive?"

"I think you should be focused on all those little friends blowing up your phone," Ryos reminded her, "Not the new doctor in town who – "

He put on a peppy voice.

"Just wants to help!"

She was in the way of the exit, meaning Ryos pushed past her.

"You should be more grateful."

She growled.

"Not only have I given you control of her body, but I've cloaked the magic."

Katherine paused.

"No other witches with a body jumping sensor will notice that you're not meant to be there."

"MJ won't notice if we make physical contact..." She read between the lines, "...Why add that in when you know she doesn't live here any more?"

Silence.

"And he loses his cards!"

Ryos laughed.

"Nothing to say?"

"Damon's mind also had a memory of you getting her away from the Hybrid."

Katherine didn't know how to react to that.

"I'm here to help her real friends – and your friendship won't last if she has to hide your secret from the other people she cares about."

The reason Katherine hadn't gone to her, to begin with.

"She can never know about this."

"And I'm not planning on telling her."

"Then," Ryos bowed his head in goodbye, "I'll see you around, Elena."

"Hm."

"Make sure you bury the body somewhere good."

He left them standing in the tomb.

"Are we actually letting him leave?" Nadia swallowed nervously, "He's clearly not trustworthy, and he's done what we needed him to do."

Katherine stared after him, then cleared her throat, "Cold, manipulative, and good hair."

Her eyes moved to Nadia.

"You really are my daughter."

"If that's your way of thanking me, save it for the road."

"I'm not going anywhere," Katherine boasted, "For the first time in the last 500 years, I'm in the clear."

No Klaus, no Damon – no nothing.

"There's no one coming after me – Hell, half the people in this town would probably slit the wrong throats to protect Elena Gilbert."

"And what about me?"

"You're a grown woman. You make your own decisions."

The dismissive confidence made it seem like her real dead body wasn't on the floor in between them.

"But if you want my vote?" Katherine smiled at her fondly, "Stay."

Nadia didn't look pleased.

"And I'm not saying I'll ever learn to be a good mother – but, I'll try."

Which was more than she did for most.

"And, I've got all the time in the world to get it right."

Nadia considered it.

"I've searched for you for centuries," She sighed, "I'm not leaving now."

The elephant in the room?

"But we both know you want more than mother-daughter bonding time."

"You're right," Katherine had a gleam in her eyes, "I want it all."

Her checklist at the front of her mind.

"I want my daughter. I want immortality. And I want Stefan Salvatore."

Simple.

"He's my one true love."

"Well," Nadia clenched her jaw, putting a smile on, "I'd hate to be the person standing in your way."

Katherine checked her phone.

A text confirming MJ was back in New Orleans and ready to talk.

"I have a phonecall to make."

24/01/2012

It had been weeks since the death of Katherine Pierce, i.e. weeks since Damon and Elena had escaped Augustine – and, in that time, Aaron Whitmore had cut funding, been taken captive by Enzo and released by Damon.

Then, exactly as 'Elena' predicted, their break-up resulted in a murder.

It was going to be a fun conversation for Elena and Damon later on, but until then, it provided Ryos with an opportunity.

The abandoned factory Wes had converted into a makeshift lab was dirty and cluttered, but it got the job done. He was living in hiding, so he couldn't exactly complain. Most of his equipment was there, all his experimental mixtures stored at the right temperatures, and enough space to keep the vampires he was creating, talking to his latest one.

"All I have to do is replicate it – research is just money and time."

Insanity dripped through his boastful tone.

"I've got time. I'll find the money."

"Perhaps," Ryos was standing in the doorway, "I can help you with that."

Wes instinctively picked up a scalpel, holding it tight in his hand as a makeshift threat.

He just laughed, "You know that won't do anything to me, Wes."

"Where the hell have you been the last month?"

"Letting you have your fun."

"Fun?" Wes snapped, "Augustine was shut down, and you haven't done – "

"Oh," Ryos waved a hand, "I've done plenty."

Wes wasn't relaxing.

"You said you didn't need my help!" He mocked, "I figured you might've revaluated."

"How can you help me with money?" Wes narrowed his eyes, "Augustine funded your projects too."

"Not entirely true."

The older doctor shifted.

"Augustine paid me for my work. My finished work."

Money by commission, not for commission.

"They never funded me," Ryos stepped inside to properly inspect the lab, "God, this place is garbage."

"Get to the point, Ryos."

"I'm here to help you, dude – lose the arrogance."

"I'll lose it when you lose yours."

"I've earnt mine. You've just played mad scientist and had your ass kicked by Damon Salvatore."

"Earnt?" Wes looked disgusted, "You've had an M.D for all of five minutes, and you think you've earned anything?"

"I got my M.D despite the fact I had no parents, no money, and no connections."

The hard expression on Ryos's face had appeared out of nowhere, making each word hit harder.

"I was alone. In the wrong country – going insane."

There was always more to the story.

"In desperate need of cash for myself and a little sister."

It wasn't easy to maintain a job that would support two children while in full-time education, especially when you couldn't risk failing said education without potentially putting your entire life at risk.

"And I've actually achieved my goals while you've just been handed everything. So yeah. I earnt it."

Wes stayed silent.

"Speaking of 'goals achieved,'" Ryos tossed Wes a vial, "Upgraded Ripper Virus. You're welcome."

"What?"

"You wanna sit here and waste time trying to recreate your little one-off discovery? Go for it," Ryos made his way to the cold storage and open the door, "Or you can get over yourself and use mine."

"In all its witchy glory."

"All science," He smirked, "Magic can be stolen and de-activated. I know better than to leave that loophole open."

Wes stared at it.

Then at the ease with which Ryos inspected all his prototypes.

"How'd you do it?"

"I'll consider sharing the recipe," Ryos knew Wes would try and reverse engineer the serum, but he also knew he wouldn't be able to, "If you accept my offer."

He may not have used magic, but that didn't mean everything in it was a purely scientific ingredient.

"It's strong," He promised, "Strong enough to instantly work on older vampires – no more conditioning stage."

Ryos gestured to the current prisoner, strapped to a table.

"And, back at my workspace, I've got some werewolf venom I'm playing around with. That's for if you're interested in not only making vampires who kill vampires, but vampires who have three days to go rabid, truly ripping through the vampire species before dying themselves, passing the disease on with every fanged bite."

Wes straightened up.

"It's a work in progress," He clarified, "All about finding the balance between the ripper virus and the venom to poison them...but I'll get there."

"Where on earth are you getting your resources from?" Wes crossed his arms, "Money? Test subjects?"

"You'd be surprised by how willing vampires are to sell out other vampires," He shrugged, "Especially the rich ones who've been kicking around for longer than five centuries."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I don't need to use magic to make these serums, but being a witch has given me opportunities within a world you will only ever glimpse at from behind glass."

"That's still vague, and I'm done getting into bed with mysterious benefactors."

"Unnecessary phrasing," Ryos rolled his eyes, "And why waste time arguing with me when you need protection."

"I don't need your protection."

"I beg to differ," He waved his hand, a bag appearing from nowhere to sit on the table next to them.

"This is Aaron's bag," Wes yanked out the belongings, "Where'd you get this?"

"I hate to be the one to tell you this," He didn't even try to sound genuine, "But Aaron Whitmore's car was found abandoned in the middle of the road last night."

Wes's face went slack, "No."

"No one has seen or heard from him around campus."

"...He's dead, isn't he?"

"My guess is, yes," Ryos nodded, "And, more importantly? You're next."

Anyone with a brain cell knew that.

"So, are you going to move to my base of operations, surrounded by people who can and will keep you safe, or are you gonna sit here and wait to be killed."

Ryos needed a fall guy, and he knew Wes would be the perfect one.

Wes wouldn't be able to resist injecting the virus into Damon, hands down, which would keep everyone occupied and vulnerable. They'd focus on him, not on The Travellers that had finally arrived in town, ready to settle in and start searching for their knife.

And it was Damon.

Ryos had no reason to stop him from suffering for a bit.

"I'll let you know."

"Call this number when the paranoia gets the better of you," Ryos left a card on the table, "Because it will."

A phone number and an address.

01/02/2012

Whitmore College's Bitter Ball was pretty to look at; fairy lights wrapped around red material, draped on every staircase bannister to make the room glow, students dressed up and mingling in groups. It was a more 'adult' party, meaning wine or champagne, awkward small talk, and music that matched with Miss Mystic.

"It just makes me so happy I'm not nineteen and stupid," Damon said as he walked down the main staircase.

Bonnie didn't respond.

She was just thinking about the irony of the comment considering Damon was acting like a heartbroken idiot.

"Where's your little witch friend then?"

She searched the faces, "Liv Parker."

A girl carrying a box of wine through the groups, dressed in uniform.

"She's in one of my classes, and she's not my friend," Bonnie didn't want to help him, "I looked her up, found out she does catering. This is a total shot in the dark."

"Well, I'm feeling lucky."

Liv passed Caroline and Stefan, so following her meant eavesdropping on them.

"I've seen Damon at his worst, Caroline," Stefan looked dejected, "And I actually think he enjoys the way it makes him feel. It's like the more pain he can cause, the more reasons there are for people to hate him."

And people certainly did at that point in time.

"He wants to confirm everyone's lowest expectations of him, and I just honestly don't know how to fight that side of him."

Damon patted him on the shoulders, "Why all the dramatics, brother?"

"What are you doing here?" He frowned.

"Bonnie," Caroline looked to her friend, "What's going on?"

"Oh, don't worry," Damon gloated, "I'm not her date. We're not breaking any Bitter Ball rules."

"How about you just answer the damn question?" Stefan wasn't in the mood for him.

"Well," He spoke dramatically, "Bonnie is going to find me a witch to do a locator spell on Dr Wes Maxfield, so I can kill him."

Stefan and Caroline shared a look.

"Bon-Bon, should I tell them?"

"Enzo has Jeremy," Bonnie pulled out her phone, "If I don't get a witch to find Wes by midnight, he'll kill him."

Damon sarcastically mimed slitting a throat while Bonnie showed them a picture of Jeremy tied up in a room somewhere, blood on his shirt.

Out of nowhere, 'Elena' appeared behind the group, taking the phone to zoom in. Her face crumpled like she was going to cry as she rushed out to get air without a word, the fake tears vanishing as she pulled out her own phone, Stefan waiting a few moments before following after her.

That left Caroline to help Bonnie search, another idea forming while trying to work out where Liv might've gone.

"I'm gonna phone MJ's brother."

Bonnie paused, "What if he tells her?"

"Then he does," Caroline sighed, "If MJ finds out Damon's gone off on one, she finds out...and if she comes back to help..."

"It shouldn't be this hard," Bonnie's shoulders slumped, "It feels like we're calling her for help every week."

"I know – I know," She didn't like it either, "It's Damon. Stefan's handled him alone for years – "

"Not really."

"Fine," Caroline rephrased, "He's put up with him for years."

"More accurate."

"We can handle him too."

"Lock him in the basement?"

"Precisely," Caroline got her phone out, "I'll call Ryos."

"I'll keep looking for Liv in case he's busy."

Bonnie headed into the backroom.

"Caroline," Ryos greeted warmly.

"Hey," She hoped she didn't sound as nervous as she felt, "You said we could call?"

"What do you need?"

"We're at Whitmore College, and we need a tracking spell."

"I'll be there in around ten."

She perked up, "Seriously?"

"I'm on Campus for some of my residency stuff. Just finished for the night," He assured her, "I'll be there."

As he hung up, Caroline relaxed a little, hearing Liv agree to help Bonnie too.

Ideal situation.

Two witches working together to find him.

In the back room, the girls lay out a map while they waited, Bonnie copying the spell onto paper for Liv since MJ had her Grimoire.

"Vampires are real," Liv was staring at Caroline, "Okay...That makes sense."

Bonnie started laying out black sand.

"Actually – that makes no sense."

"Concentrate," Bonnie put a hand on her wrist, "Focus on tapping into your power."

Liv gave her a blank look.

"Listen to the sound of your heart beating."

Damon sauntered in, "How long is this going to take?"

"For a newbie witch to learn a complicated spell under massive stress?" Caroline was openly angry, "I have no idea. Bonnie?"

"Depends on when – "

"I'm here," Ryos came through the door, dumping a satchel bag on the floor, scrubs poking out the top.

Bonnie and Damon both looked him up and down.

The earthy vibe certainly reminded them of MJ, pale blue harem trousers and a slightly see-through linen shirt. The top two buttons weren't done up, meaning they could see the black tattoo lines across his collar bone. It wrapped around to the back of his neck, as well as up his arms as he rolled his sleeves, tugging at the thick bead leather bracelets on his right wrist.

He waited for someone to say something, "Who am I looking for?"

"Dr Wes Maxfield," Caroline pointed at him, "If you're involved with the medicine program, you might know him."

"I've heard of him," Ryos looked at the spell Bonnie had written out, holding a hand to Liv, "Ryos Jung."

"Liv Parker."

Ryos stared at the hand as she accepted the gesture, blinked slowly, then let go, nodding to himself.

"Should I assume you're a witch too?" She asked innocently.

"Correct – ish."

Damon narrowed his eyes, "No introduction for me?"

"Damon Salvatore," Ryos's lack of interest in him was evident, "MiMi's told me enough about you."

"Sabrina's older brother," He looked him over again, "I guess I can see it."

"So," Ryos rubbed his hands together, "Wes Maxfield?"

"Look!" Liv stood up, "If he's here, why do you need me?"

"I said correct-ish," He answered before anyone else could, "I'm a Floare."

"I don't know what that means."

Ryos smiled at her lie, "It's a type of witch, and I'm only half it. My dad was human – that means I'm weaker. To do this, I've gotta channel someone."

"Channel?"

"Sit here, hold my hands, and let me use your power."

Liv looked at the sheet, "I can't say this."

"You can," Bonnie encouraged, "Just repeat after me: Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

"Wait – wait," Her breathing was shallow, "What?"

"Relax," Ryos softened, "Break it up a little. Phasmatos Tribum."

"Phasmatos Tribum."

Bonnie nodded, "Nas Ex Veras."

"Nas Ex Veras."

"Sequitas Sanguinem."

"Sequitas Sanguinem."

"Now together," Bonnie motioned for them to go, "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

"Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

"See," Ryos took a seat in front of the map, "You've got this."

Caroline smiled at the warmth in his tone.

"Something to trace him with?" He asked Bonnie.

She pulled out a small towel with Wes's blood on it.

"Lovely," He nodded sarcastically, taking one corner in his hand, holding the other side out to Liv, "Just take the other end."

She did.

"Keep your eyes closed," Bonnie instructed, "And use the blood to find Wes."

"I have no idea what he looks like."

"You don't have to," Ryos assured her, "Just say the words and let me control the magic."

She scanned him before nodding.

"Phasmatos Tribum," They spoke together, "Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

A breeze picked up, Ryos getting further confirmation that Liv was lying to everyone as much as he was.

"Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

The spare decorative candles stored in the back of the room all lit, lights buzzing over their heads.

It was when the sockets fully exploded, chandelier crashing to the floor, that Ryos pulled back, stopping it, fighting off his slightly impressed smile.

Damon pulled a face, "Is that a good sign?"

"I can't do this," Liv let go.

"Just concentrate," Bonnie tried to break through, "Try again."

"I can't do this!"

"You can," Ryos repeated, "Stop thinking about the spell, just think about the magic."

"That's what I was doing!"

"No," He looked her dead in the eye, "It wasn't."

She'd thrown the spell.

"Don't you get it?" Liv dodged the slight accusation, "I've done horrible things – set buildings on fire – hurt people! I can't control any of it."

A phone rang, Damon answering it on speaker.

"Witchy hotline," He winked at them, "How may I help you? Damon speaking."

The British voice of Enzo was on the other end of the line, "What's taking so long?"

"They seem to have lost motivation. Maybe you can inspire them."

"With pleasure."

Someone screamed.

"Let them know that Jeremy will be dead very soon."

"Thank you," Damon hung up.

"What are you doing?" Caroline hissed, "Call him back and tell him to stop!"

He didn't respond.

"Damon!" She begged, "Call him back."

"Just so you know, cooperation's not optional."

Ryos flicked his wrist, and every bone in Damon's body snapped, neck included, sending him to the floor like a sack of out-of-date potatoes.

"Anway – "

"He's gonna kill you for that," Caroline whispered, everyone just staring at the body.

"He can try," Ryos turned to face them, unbothered, "Awake, he's a nuisance, and god knows MJ's too much of a doormat to ever hold anyone accountable for anything."

He snapped his fingers, and Damon's body went up in flames.

"I'm a lot less forgiving," He focused on Liv, "See that?"

His second finger snap put the flames out.

"I just hurt him."

"And what, you'll hurt me if I don't help you?"

"No," Ryos looked offended by the idea, "Anyone with any type of power has the potential to hurt people, but if you don't try, you'll never get anywhere."

She was playing with her hands.

"When I'm angry and scared, the magic builds up," He used an amulet on his neck to tap his chest, "And it explodes, and it's not pretty."

He adjusted how he was sitting to make his body open.

"When I was in Elementary school, I once made all the sprinklers explode because someone kept talking over me."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"The water caught on fire."

"Oh."

"Yep," He ran a hand through his hair, "The room was ruined, and I was crying, and I said I wasn't gonna do magic ever again...But everyone blamed it on a faulty pipeline mixed with cheap electronics."

"I've done bad things too," Bonnie added.

Liv looked down.

"I've broken windows; I've set more fires than I can count."

Liv glared at the bloody cloth, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"It's telling you that we get it," Ryos correct, "My mum guided me through it."

Ish.

"She showed me how to grow flowers, and heal people. Help in little ways."

"You learn how to control it," Bonnie squeezed her hand, "I can teach you the same thing."

She pulled her own phone out and showed Liv the backscreen picture of her and Jeremy Gilbert.

"This is Jeremy."

"He's cute."

"Yeah," Bonnie smiled at the phone, "He is...And his life is literally in your hands."

Liv looked between them and took a deep breath, "Okay, but if I go all Carrie and burn the school down, it's on you."

"Okay."

"We can work with that," Ryos offered her the cloth again, "Remember, I'm actually doing the spell. You're just opening up your power to me."

Being in control of the spell showed Ryos that Wes was still at his makeshift lab – contemplating his options. As they gave the address to Damon, getting Jeremy his freedom, Ryos sent a text to a few Travellers.

He needed them to save Wes's ass so they could use Damon as a test subject, before they let Damon kill him.

Once that was done, he managed to catch Liv's arm before she could return to help pack up the party.

They were a little way from the back room.

"What game are you playing?" His voice was low.

She shook him off, "Game?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Ryos challenged, "You could feel my magic just as much as I could feel yours."

"I'm powerful, so?" She stuck her chin up, "The real question is why you're spinning a story about being a half-Floare when you're clearly not."

"I am," He bobbed his head, "I've just decided to give that whole 'you're born weaker' thing the middle finger. Practise and hard work pay off."

She considered it.

"Now, Liv Parker, what's a Gemini Witch doing so far from Portland?"

She started to panic, "How'd you know that?"

"Floare and Gemini have been in this fight together for two thousand years – I know the Parker family lead the coven – now what are you doing here?"

"We've never cared about Floare outside of their fights with Travellers. I'm not doing anything you need to care about."

"I hope you keep that attitude."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a comment," He stood down a little, "I don't like how your coven treats people."

"We treat people just fine."

"So why play these guys?" Ryos wasn't going to give away MJ's status as a siphoner to explain his jab.

"Maybe I just want some friends, and playing novice means they're nice to me."

She was clearly lying.

He didn't need to know the real answer; he just needed to keep her in the back of his mind.

Heading back to the room, Bonnie and Caroline were clearing up the map. He smiled at them, waved his hand, fixing the blown-out lights before grabbing his bag.

Bonnie took a step towards him, "Um..."

There was a nice quiet over the three of them.

Then Bonnie and Caroline shared a nervous look.

He put his bag back down carefully, "What is it?"

"That story you told," Caroline smiled a little, "It was MJ's."

He had a silencing rune on under his shirt, so they hadn't heard his conversation with Liv.

"She told me about it when I asked what growing up as a witch was like. Said she had meltdowns at school and told me that story."

"Yeah," Ryos laughed at himself, "I've never had a problem with control – like, ever."

Bonnie rubbed her head, "Lucky."

"It's part the whole lack of power thing," He winced a little, "You don't have enough to cause any problems."

"MJ also told me you were the one who helped her with the aftermath," Carolien sounded teasing, "Not your mum."

"We walked to and from school together most days," He put his thumbs in his pockets, "I'd be the first person to see her, and the best way to help MiMi is to give her a hug. They make her feel safe..."

Bonnie and Caroline shared another, happier look.

"I'd carry her home when she was young-young. Take her art shopping when she was too old for that," He smiled at the memory, "Actually helping her deal? That was all our dad."

Ryan Jung and his loving hand.

"Our mum did do magic things with her, but he was the instant fix for the bad days...He was the best..."

After staring at the floor, he forced his mood to lift.

"Liv needed to feel understood, so it didn't matter if the story wasn't true."

"Do you teach magic a lot?"

"I taught MJ tricks when we were little, I've taught some of the witch kids I've helped with a few things, but I've never really been in a long-term magic environment. I'm actually pretty anti-magic in everyday life."

Truth.

"It's responsible for everything evil around us, and the world would be a better place without it."

Caroline had been a little confused about his opinions, "I remember the stuff you said on the call."

"Sometimes your own opinions need to take a backseat to help people."

"Well, you've got more experience than me," Bonnie was realising she'd signed herself up to teach Liv.

"If you want some advice," Ryos looked at his bag, then back at her, "I will offer you an African Proverb."

"...Okay?"

"If the child learns the trail of the snake," He spoke with his hands, "They will also learn the wanderings of the snake; It's actually about parenting, not teaching – but my mum used it sometimes."

"It's about good and evil?" Caroline assumed.

"It means parenting is hard. And bad parenting creates a toxic cycle."

*cough* The Mikaelsons *cough*

"Teaching is hard too," He explained the point, "Especially teaching magic. It's individual and filled with constant temptation towards darkness."

He gave Bonnie a sympathetic look.

"If MJ's little weekly wrap-ups are anything to go off? You're a good person, Bonnie."

The way he spoke just reminded them that he was a few years older than them. He felt like someone who knew what he was talking about, making everything coming out of his mouth that much more believable.

"You'll help Liv; you'll show her the good. That's the path she'll learn from you – but you aren't her parent. If it goes wrong, don't be hard on yourself."

A final head bob, and he headed out of the room, into the Bitter Ball clean-up.

"Sorry," Caroline chased after him, "But I realised we didn't say thank you."

"Honestly," He grinned, "I'm happy to help."

She played with her dress a little, "I think it's good that you're here."

"I think it's good too."

"Any proverb for me before you go?" She joked.

He looked around at the helpers.

She grew concerned, "Is everything okay?"

"Just...I do, actually."

"Huh?"

"Laughter does not show friendship."

She didn't follow, "What?"

"The behaviour of a person – what their face is doing, isn't always who they are inside."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Two reasons," He glanced around again, "I ran into Elena on my way in."

She didn't follow.

"There's something up with her."

"What do you mean?"

"There was..." He paused like he was working out how to phrase it, "A magic buzz in the back of my mind. Like she'd been spelled."

Caroline didn't know what to do with that information.

"Two, there was also something off with that Liv girl. Keep an eye on her."

"Off is pretty vague."

"She overpowered me in there."

"She lost control."

"She wasn't using her power for the spell at all," He revealed, "She was using it to make the lights go funny."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Ryos looked to the door, "Maybe I'm wrong about both of them, but a witch claiming to be a newbie blasting that much power? Right after I sense magic controlling a doppelgangers brain?"

He shook his head.

"Coincidences don't exist – I don't wanna see someone as nice as you get caught in a bad situation."

She nodded cutely, "I'll keep that in mind."

He waited until he got into his car to make a call, happy with his situation.

At the time, Ryos had hoped giving Katherine control would've counted as killing Elena, triggering the doppelganger dreams to start, but it had been weeks of nothing.

Whatever.

Ryos had tried to throw MJ a bone by helping Katherine Pierce live on, but he needed one Amara left too. MJ would understand why eventually and forgive him.

Plus, to get Elena back, they'd have to use the Traveller's Knife, which would hopefully tell him where it was.

"Julian," Ryos answered his phone, driving out of Whitmore, "Talk to me."

"We saved your Doctor friend, but he'd used your virus on one of them."

"Oh no," He responded flatly, "It'd be such a shame if we were forced to kill Damon Salvatore."

"We're following him out of town."

"Let Wes record whatever data he wants. I'll head back to the base and work on the spell."

"I need to find the knife," Julian argued.

"I have people looking."

Julian sighed, "You sure we should stay on the vampire?"

"I'm sure," Ryos nodded, "His buddy still with him?"

"Yep."

"Stay until Damon's about to feed on him, then offer Enzo an out and bring him to the camp."

"Leave the ripper?"

"Spell him to the house. People will come for him, and you don't need to get caught in that."

"See you soon."

~***~

Bonnie left the Whitmore campus, driving back to Mystic Falls – Ric's apartment specifically, on a bit of a mission to find Kol. It had only been a day since they'd started looking into MJ's rune, so they weren't anywhere near fixing it, but that didn't matter.

He jumped when she opened the door.

For a moment, they were both just staring at each other, him awkwardly sitting up from the bed.

"Greetings, witch."

"Ryos," Bonnie greeted, "What's your real problem with him?"

"He's lied about unnecessary things; everything said to Mira in front of me was laced in manipulation - "

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I've spent a thousand years manipulating people," Kol stood up, "Just because my preferred method was 'charm' doesn't mean I don't recognise the rhetoric he's using."

Bonnie shut the apartment door, coming closer.

"When he was helping Stefan, he deliberately spoke like MJ to give Caroline a sense of familiarity - playing humble do-gooder."

The 'Kol' who simply wanted to help witches, only to kill them once he'd gotten what he wanted.

"A summer without her, you miss her, you want to show trust in her – you project that feeling on to him."

When he'd talk about losing power to guilt witches into helping.

"That implies he knows about last year."

"MJ sent him everything he needs to know about all of you in her videos."

She started to scratch on the back of her hands, feet fidgeting.

"Should I assume you just met him?"

She nodded.

Kol scanned her, "And this reaction is because?"

"He was lovely," Bonnie admitted, "He and MJ are eerily similar, and he was kind and mature – and – "

Something in Bonnie's head just wasn't clicking.

"He's charming all of you," Kol put his hand out, "While putting MJ down, so she feels worse about resenting him."

Her breathing picked up.

"She complains. You all shoot down her worries, therefore invalidating her feelings."

Something MJ didn't need help with.

"Until she feels isolated - like he is all she has."

"No!" Bonnie snapped, "You've just gotten in my head!"

"Not to toot my own horn, but I'm actually quite intelligent."

"You're a terrible person."

"Who cares an awful lot about your friend," Kol took a firm step towards her, "Who is trapped and unable to talk to anyone except you - who openly resents him."

"You spend half our conversations threatening the people around me."

Kol usually appeared in weird places, making her jump by announcing some weird murder plot he'd come up with, Bonnie rolling her eyes and making a jab back. Hence why she'd started to avoid him.

"You think I want to be here, love?"

The way his face became antagonistic did nothing to help the situation.

"I keep waiting for you to realise I'm not the enemy - but you're determined to paint me as the villain in your story."

"Because you were - "

"Because you would rather believe that!"

She froze at the volume of his cut-off.

"You need me to be evil, so you don't have to acknowledge that your best friend orchestrated the death of hundreds and thousands of vampires."

Silence.

"I do spend half the time threatening people," Kol forced himself to lower the volume, "But I spend the other half trying to make sure Mira is okay."

He knew he needed to be calm if he wanted to get through to her.

"And if you let her brother weasel his way into your heads, something bad is going to happen."

There was nothing to tell him exactly what, but he could feel it in his gut.

"He was in the Salvatore House the day Katherine Pierce died."

Bonnie stilled, "What?"

"Her daughter took him to see her."

That was new information.

"...And?"

"I don't know," Kol was lying a little, "I was with MJ."

He'd seen something else he wasn't planning on sharing, given the Elena of it all.

"I wasn't pulling back to let her have her time with her friend. But I was there."

"You didn't tell her?"

"I didn't see enough," He hadn't at the time, "And I didn't want her to worry over nothing - especially when she was already drinking her problems away."

Bonnie's shoulder's untensed at that admission.

"I'm trying to get as much evidence as possible," Kol had a smug smile on his face, "Snippets of people I don't know aren't exactly easy to follow, but the moment I have a strong enough case, I will be pitching it to you."

Bonnie really looked at him.

"There's something sketchy about him, and I intend to find out what. If you truly care for Mira - if you have a brain, you'll listen to me when I do."

She bit into her cheek.

"And I know you have a brain."

"You called me 'witch' earlier."

"Magic or not, you think like a witch. A powerful witch, Bonnie."

At Graduation, he'd gone to her for a reason.

"You don't become that powerful, starting to practise this late in life, unless you have drive, talent, and a brain. So, let me help you before it's too late."

"Ryos..." Bonnie didn't like the idea of trusting Kol Mikaelson of all people, "He's...I..."

"Just tell me you'll be willing to listen."

"I'll listen."

He bobbed his head.

"No promises that I'll agree with a thing you have to say, but I'll listen."

03/02/2012

A few days after the Bitter Ball, Elijah and MJ had taken Klaus back to The Compound, only for her to be pulled away by some conflicting news.

"We think Katherine possessed Elena," Caroline started.

MJ shifted, "What?"

"She never passed through Bonnie," Stefan reminded her, "Both of us hoped it was because she'd found peace – but what if it's because her spirit didn't die."

MJ didn't respond.

"Nadia took us to Travellers the day we thought she died," Stefan lowered his voice.

"Oh my god," She moved her phone to speaker so she could reread her texts, "No."

"MJ – "

"How'd you get to this conclusion?"

"Tyler noticed that Matt wasn't wearing vervain," Caroline explained, "And he heard Nadia compelling him, so the pair of us looked into it."

"What was she compelling him?"

"To forget things. Claimed it was to do with mourning, but the pair of them disappeared together for a few days, i.e. enough time to get him off the vervain Tyler had given him, so we don't know if that's true."

"And the text," Stefan prompted.

"Matt sent me a text while he was gone, one that said; Help, full stop, K."

"And you think he was saying 'Help. Katherine?"

"He doesn't remember sending it," Caroline sighed, "Then there's everything going on with Damon."

"Elena called complete quits on him, so he's thrown a tantrum?"

"Pretty much," Stefan confirmed, "He went after that Dr Wes guy and got injected with the ripper virus."

"The one Elena killed Jesse over?"

"Yeah."

"Where is he now?"

"Chained up in the basement."

"That's good."

"Except, 'Elena' and I went after him together."

"She walked him into a porn movie," Caroline declared.

"She didn't!" Stefan defended, "The car broke down, she got covered in oil – so we got a hotel room for her to shower in – "

"And let me guess," MJ cut him off, "She forgot her towel."

No response.

"So you just had to pass it through a tiny crack in the door? And then that crack didn't close properly, and you could see her in the mirror?"

"...Maybe..."

"You walked into a porno," MJ agreed with Caroline, "She kissed you?"

"Yeah," He sounded so disappointed in himself, "I stopped it. I could never do that to Damon, but it still happened."

"But she could?" Caroline gagged, "The Elena we know wouldn't do something like that – she knows it would destroy Damon. Katherine would."

MJ frowned, "Permission to reprise my role as devil's advocate from the sire bond conversation?"

"Granted."

"Elena is the girl who slept with Damon the day after she broke up with Stefan."

Silence.

"I know the excuse is the sire bond, but she made it pretty damn clear that she wanted it whenever any of you tried to tell her otherwise. She kissed him. She chose him afterwards. And I don't remember her apologising for it. I remember her keeping it a secret then getting upset when you wanted Rebekah to compel your memories away."

More silence.

"It's been nearly a month since they split up. Kissing Stefan? You can't just say that's not what Elena would do because she already did."

But accountability didn't exist in Mystic Falls.

"She did, and worse."

"That might be true," Caroline spoke up first, "But there's this other thing about their Damon mission."

"She was trying to get him killed," Stefan summed up.

"Intrigued," MJ's voice came out a little more excited than she'd intended it to.

"Elena killed Jesse because it was the only option," Stefan kept his words very clear, "She put herself in harm's way with Damon, offering herself up as bait, and kicked me a stake."

"The stake bit is bad," She admitted, "The other bit? Trying to get Damon to control himself? Putting herself in danger to help? That's a Junior Year Elena move. And Junior Year Elena loved you, Stefan, so kissing you again would make sense too."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked.

"Elena tried to hand herself over to Klaus, met with Katherine despite the fact Katherine had tried to ruin her life. She was the one to make a deal with Elijah. She started training with Alaric to be safer. And she constantly used the 'for me' card on Damon to control him."

Something MJ had once eye-rolled her for doing, but still.

"Damon was compelled to kill Jer, and she didn't even use super strength. She tried to get him to fight compulsion for her. Elena throws herself into danger a lot. Damon's the one who's never delivered."

"Huh..."

"The stake thing though," MJ was really reading her texts, "That's odd."

"Your brother also made a comment," Caroline added, "He told me he sensed magic on her and told me to be wary."

MJ closed her eyes and sighed, "Then you guys are right. It's Katherine in there."

"You think?"

"Ryos would be the one to know if a Traveller was up there," She exited the messages, "It's too random of a statement to make for it to be a lie."

She felt her heart breaking.

"I...I am in the middle of something right now, but I'll see if I can come back..."

MJ had thought her friendship was finally back on track, but in reality, she'd been getting played.

The apology, the niceties – none of it was Elena.

She'd had a month of a completely normal friendship with Katherine, and it had been perfect, but she was stealing Elena's life, and MJ had to get her out of that body before the others actually killed her.

"Call us when you're close," Caroline.

"Will do."

She hung up and hated everything.

She'd promised herself she wouldn't go to Mystic Falls unless it was an eight or higher, and they'd somehow given her what she'd label an eight. She still had a chance to save Katherine. She couldn't pass that up.

Breathe.

Dealing with Katherine meant leaving Klaus; therefore, MJ texted Camille to come help, then returned to Elijah.

"Are you okay?" He asked cautiously.

"You heard the call, right?"

A nod.

"It's body jumping...I've gotta go, like, I – "

Reset.

"I'm really sorry – I feel like this is the worst time to dip."

MJ returned to Klaus's side and waved a hand over his eyes, enjoying how they moved to follow.

"I'll help get the dagger out, and then I'll go, and you," She leant down to his level, "Will not do something stupid while I'm gone."

He growled.

"Mira," Elijah put a hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to be at their beck and call."

She blinked slowly.

"You haven't slept. Stay here and do one thing at a time."

MJ turned to look at him, "I can't tell if this is your subtle way of wanting to keep Katherine alive without having to admit it or not."

"She's stolen Elena's body," Elijah's disapproval was clear.

"So I need to go and get her out of it."

Silence.

"Good to see you're as conflicted as I am," She sighed.

Klaus started growling louder, arms able to move slightly.

"And you clearly aren't," MJ tapped his forehead twice, "I'll make sure she actually ends up dead this time, don't worry."

"Mira," Elijah repeated.

"I'll be fine."

"You've slept the same amount I have the past few days. You shouldn't be driving."

"I'll drink boosters."

"No..." He thought about it, body drained, "I'll get one of the worker bees to do it so you can sleep in the back."

MJ smiled, "Thank you."

"God knows it'll actually give them a purpose."

"Before I force her out, is there anything you want me to tell her?"

Before he could respond, a vampire yelled in the courtyard, both of them rushing to the balcony so they could see why.

Cami.

"I asked her to come help."

"Camille!" Elijah gestured for her to get up the stairs.

"Please," MJ added with a thumbs up.

"Why did you text me?" She was slightly breathless, having run there, "Have you found a way to help my uncle?"

Up the stairs.

"I'm trying to," MJ promised her, "But we need help with something first."

"I don't have time for games, guys," Cami let them lead her along the balcony corridor, "The hex is getting worse by the day."

"My brother has a mystical torture device buried in his chest," Elijah countered, "And the mother of his child is inexplicably missing with her guard dog."

"We don't have time for games either."

Cami focused, "What do you need me to do?"

As they entered Klaus's bedroom, Elijah explained where they'd all been the days since Kieran had been hexed and why Klaus was out of it, shirtless and scarred.

"The dagger the witch gave me is inside of him?"

Elijah took his jacket off, "And every second it remains causes Niklaus untold suffering."

"Who stabbed him?"

"I did."

Cami's eyes went wide.

"And now I intend to remove it."

"You might want to take a step back," MJ pulled Cami's shoulders.

She looked between them, "Why am I here?"

"Because we both have tasks we need to do," MJ patted Klaus on the head again, magically opening up the wound.

He cried out.

"Shh, shh," She put a hand on his arm, "It's gonna be over soon."

Her eyes jumped back at Cami.

"He likes talking to you, and he's not about to slaughter you."

Elijah shoved his fist into Klaus's chest.

He roared, but MJ sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped two hands around one of his, "Look at me..."

She lifted it up.

"Klaus...look at me."

His struggling made it harder for Elijah to find the handle.

"Nik," She managed to catch his attention, "We're here. It's gonna be over soon."

He was squeezing into her hand as he stilled, letting Elijah actually grip onto the bone end.

"Also," Elijah let the blade stay in place for a few seconds longer, "He speaks of you with a rare degree, for him, at least, of respect."

A few more seconds of punishment.

"I can see that you challenge him to see himself and others in a new light."

He started pulling up.

Klaus was almost crushing the bones in MJ's hand to not fight against Elijah, roaring.

"A wonderful skill that I shall be counting on very shortly," Elijah held the dagger up, "Niklaus will be weak as he recovers."

He picked up a cloth from the bedside table to wipe the blood away.

"Watch over and feed him, if you would – But slowly, and from your wrist."

"I'll get you bags from storage," MJ winced, "Don't worry about actually having to do that."

Cami nodded gratefully.

"It's a deliberate request," Elijah put the blade down, "You still take vervain, Camille?"

"I do..."

"He'll ingest it slower."

MJ laughed, "Oh, this is buying time?"

"Precisely," Elijah started cleaning his hand, "Perhaps you could use that time constructively?"

Cami shifted awkwardly.

"Persuade him not to murder his baby sister."

"It's in everyone's best interest if he doesn't," MJ was talking to Klaus, "Because he loves her, and he would hate himself forever if he actually did it, and his family is already bordering on extinct."

He was glaring back, still grasping her hand tightly.

"Niklaus," Elijah crossed his arms, "It was not my desire to bring you pain, but I will not see you hurt Rebekah."

"Where exactly are you two gonna be?" Cami checked.

"Sabine will be making a final move against us. I intend to find her and to end this."

"And I'm going to be making sure the person at the top of Klaus's hit list ends up dead," MJ stood up, shoulder yanking down when he didn't let go, "Which he should be enjoying instead of plotting and hating."

"I can multitask," He hissed.

"She won't die if you don't release me."

He did.

"Thank you," She looked at the red marks and pricks of blood from his nails.

"Elijah," His head tilted to his brother, "You will pay for this."

"Have fun," MJ said to Cami, "I'll be back ASAP."

As they headed out, Elijah called down to one of the lackeys, compelling them to grab a car and drive her, listing a few more of the reasons she shouldn't go. Mainly, the fact they didn't know where Hayley was. MJ pointed out that Sam would literally prioritise her life over his, without hesitation, thanks to a sire bond, and they were together.

That managed to make him relax slightly.

MJ headed out to the street, but Elijah called with one final thing.

"Tell Katherine...tell Katherine that I did love Katerina."

MJ looked at the confliction on his face.

"That I hadn't felt love for an incredibly long time, and that Katerina will always have a place in my heart for reminding me of it."

"Will do."

a/n:

First: I know it doesn't feel like it, but there are 15 TVD chapters (12 episodes) and 21 TO chapters.

Plus, in this interlude of TVD, one chapter is heavily TO characters (you'll see what I mean<3)

Secondly: Comments

I know you don't mean harm, and that people hate Elena/Ryos, but checking my phone notifications and seeing a momentarily spam of insults is a lot.

I love the passion, but you don't need to hate everything they do. Some stuff, go for it, but not everything, please. It kills my mood.

The Main Thing I Want Thoughts On :)

I added Ryos to S5 because I thought he might improve a pretty messy and boring season.
- he has a personality/smart
- a connection to an established character
- and I thought he'd be interesting for people to analyse.

However, he gets so much hate, I feel like I haven't done this well?

I promise, his internal thoughts are not lies.
- The Cell (hates Damon for MJ)
- Little Miss Sunshine (Erased dad for safety)
- Tangle In Blue (Ana pressures him to lie and guilt trips him, her child, for wanting to fit in)

I want to think the hate is just protection of MJ, but is it a sign people would've preferred the season without him?

I can completely wrap up everything about Ryos this season, or I can leave a few things open for later. First draft, he was gonna be a TO character, not TVD...

On the note of analysis

I feel like how Klaus contributes to MJ's addiction to toxic behaviour is heavily ignored.

The ancestors created her low-self worth,
Ryos made it worse post-Ana's death,
but Klaus?

- Almost pulled out her stomach,
- Three days of sacrifice trauma
- Used Stefan's safety to use her all summer
- Killed her best friend in front of her,
- Set up Caroline to die twice
- Kidnapped her to another country
- Killed one of her guardians.
To name a few things.

By forgiving Klaus for hell, MJ has basically been rewarded with their current friendship.

Think about what message that sends her...

I love Klaus and MJ, but when characters are surprised or disapproving of MJ's relationship with him, they kinda have a point.

TOS2/TVDS6 is gonna have lots of psychoanalysis, so as I near the end of this part, it's been on my mind, and I wanted to share it to see what people thought.

As always,

Thank you for reading this, thank you for votes and comments <3
- love Bea xx