a/n: Not a full time jumping MJ-Secret-Plan Chapter but I wanted to spice it all up a little...hope you enjoy ;)
Remember to comment and vote - Bea xx

Saltzman Apartment, Whitmore - 18:30

Inside Ric's apartment, two bodies were being observed. MJ and Kai. While MJ was wrapped in a blanket, lain across the sofa, Kai's body had simply been dumped on the coffee table like a limp and abandoned child's toy Jo couldn't look away from.

His twin sister was sitting in a chair, MJ's phone in her hand, trying to understand a notebook page in her camera roll.

Damon had been the one to carry her in before quickly vanishing outside to phone his brother. Not just Stefan - anyone who needed to know what was happening, the group was a little all over the place, leaving Elena to dodge questions. She'd been kidnapped. She didn't know what had happened, but that didn't exactly stop Ric from asking.

"She just collapsed?"

"They both did."

"For how long?"

"I don't know."

"Jo?" He looked at her, "The phone?"

"I...I have no idea," She looked up from the photographed page, "I'm a beginner. Remember."

Ric huffed, looking towards Damon through the balcony door, a phone pressed to his ear. No more vampire traits meant he couldn't hear what was being said through the glass - not without creeping forward (which Damon would definitely hear).

His eyes went to MJ's form, face peaceful.

"At least she's getting rest?" Jo tried.

He didn't respond.

"Isn't she?"

"I don't..." He was asking because he didn't have a single answer himself, "I want to know why she isn't waking up."

Silence.

"Damon will explain," Elena tried to think of the right words to say, "He said they had a plan."

Ric looked over Jo's shoulder at the spell, "This isn't her writing."

"It's not," Damon was finally back, phone out and on speaker, "It's some guy called Kaleb's."

Ric straightened up.

"And, he's gonna be here any minute."

Ric's eyes fluttered, "What?"

"Yup," Damon summed up, "Sabrina's been keeping secrets - "

"Who is he - "

"I'll get to it," He waved a dismissive hand, looking to Elena, "Phone Liv to get ex-wolf boy here."

"Huh?"

"I'm assuming Tyler's gonna wanna know why his bestie's not answering his texts for the next month."

Ric's mouth was permanently open, "The next month?"

"Just call him."

It took a few moments, but Liv answered, quickly revealing that she and Tyler were in Whitmore, while Stefan and Caroline were there through Damon's device. They'd taken a trip to Duke, now driving back.

Technically, Damon had had a few hours to get everyone together, but he'd tried to be smart about it. He knew what MJ had planned, he knew he needed some things to accommodate it, so while he'd brought MJ and Kai back to Ric's apartment, he'd gotten Jo to collect a bunch of hospital supplies and sent Ric on a food mission.

Then, he'd texted Stefan about driving back to waste even more time until it was officially evening.

He'd also tried to call Tyler and Liv, but neither had answered for him.

Finally, they were all 'together,' which meant he couldn't buy time any longer.

"Sabrina here put herself and Mr-Eats-Too-Much into some mental prison," He recited the basics, "Keeps him down until Jo's ready to merge."

"So they're both just..." Tyler asked through the phone, "...Unconscious?"

"Pretty much."

Ric crossed his arms, "You let her put that guy in her head?"

"It's MJ!" Damon put his hands up, "You're the one who's been trying to train her to be a 'real girl' for the past two years. You know she does her best work alone when it comes to saving the day."

"Real girl?" Stefan sassed.

"As opposed to paranoid and overprotective Miss Perfect Valedictorian," Damon waved a hand, "It's her. She'll be fine."

A backwards compliment of sorts.

"We don't know that," Tyler argued, "Dude - "

"She'll be fine!" He argued louder, "She was already ditching town in a few days. Now, she's vanishing and keeping him down at the same time."

"But - "

"It'll be fine."

"How'd this even happen?"

Salvatore House, Mystic Falls - 08:30

It was a fun day back in Mystic Falls, magic in the soil, vampires returned to their homes – The Salvatore House bustling with people coming in and out as they all got settled. Birds chirped in the driveway, and MJ could hear music blasting inside, rushing through the still unlocked front door holding papers and a bag.

"Jer!" She yelled, kicking the door shut, "Lower the volume!"

His voice came from somewhere, "What?"

"Music down!"

"Only for you!"

"Yeah, yeah," She grinned, turning into the living room and seeing Liv and Jo already setting up, "I'll be focused in like five."

She dumped her satchel bag onto a chair, papers flying from her hold into neat piles while she headed to the kitchen for food. She and Caroline had stayed at the hospital all night, her driving Liz back to their house, dropping MJ off at Ric's so she could grab her supplies before heading to the Salvatore's.

Jeremy was in the kitchen.

"Dude," She waved a hand and pulled a face, "Not what I wanna see in the morning."

He laughed, only a towel around his waist as he poured coffee.

She started opening cupboards, "Any food?"

"Toasted waffles in the bread box."

She almost laughed, "Because that makes sense."

"It does," He pushed a full mug towards her, "Have fun teaching."

MJ caught his arm, "I'm getting her back."

Silence.

Jeremy went back to routing for food, getting space between them, then tossing her the waffle packet.

"Jeremy," MJ repeated, "I'm not giving up on her."

"I'll, uh, I'll put that on for you."

She sighed, "Thanks."

He clearly didn't want to talk about it, and MJ didn't want to cause an argument. She knew Jeremy didn't doubt her – he was just a bit of a mess after everything. So was she. If she was allowed to dodge telling all of them about what had happened in the Prison World, he could avoid her Bonnie-prompts.

MJ returned to the library; Liv and Jo were kneeling by the coffee table, hands forwards to light candles.

"Phasmatos Incedia."

Jo closed her eyes to repeat the phrase, "Phasmatos Incedia."

The candles stayed out.

Liv did not.

"Shit," She shoved up to her feet, knees hitting the table, knocking the candles to the floor as she patted herself out, "Shit, shit – shit – "

MJ waved her hand.

It all went out.

Liv was singed but okay, the furniture rearranging itself back to normal as MJ's eyes passed over it.

"Sorry," Jo cringed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Liv gave MJ a thankful nod, gesturing to the hallway, "I'm fine. It's just clothes...and skin."

Stefan appeared in the room opening.

"Where can I get a t-shirt?"

"Damon's room," He answered, a puzzled look on his face as she walked right past him, "Upstairs, end of the hall."

The vampire came in properly once she was gone, an arm going over MJ's shoulder.

"Not that you're not welcome," He squeezed, "But what is everyone doing in my house?"

"Fire spell," Jo bobbed her head awkwardly, "Sort of."

MJ snorted.

"Turns out, getting back in touch with your magic isn't anything like riding a bike."

"Oh."

Stefan looked around the room, MJ's magic slowly patching everything back up.

"I am sorry about that vase, though," Jo pointed to a smashed object in the corner, "Was that expensive?"

"I don't know," Stefan's grip on MJ tightened, voice flat, "But the Smithsonian would. You should call them."

"Ignore him," MJ leant her head into his shoulder, "The same one got smashed during an attack from his doppelgänger. I fixed it then; I'll fix it now."

The pieces began to crawl back together.

"I'm allowed to be confused right now?" Stefan asked her.

"Considering you've been on Enzo and Caroline duty the past few days," She nodded, "Yes. You are one hundred per cent allowed to be confused."

The front door opened, Ric walking in, a large brown paper bag in his hand.

"Thank God," Jo headed straight to him, "Breakfast. Please tell me that you brought mimosas."

He lifted a bottle out of the bag, "Do you actually think I'd watch this sober?"

"What exactly are we watching?" Stefan finally removed his arm.

"Today, we make smores," Jo kept the light atmosphere, "In a month, I win the merge and become the leader of my coven, guaranteeing its survival."

"Liv and I have a thirty-day regimen," MJ continued, "She'll be teaching it while I go home – though, I will only be a call away. Happy to do digital lessons."

"I will need it," Jo was trying to stay smiling, "One hundred per cent."

"And, by the next celestial event," She smiled too, "You'll be in tip-top shape."

A pause.

"Well, the next major celestial event. Quite a few smaller ones are coming up, but we're not thinking about that."

"And this regimen has to happen in my living room, because?"

MJ laughed.

"Damon feels guilty," Ric summed up.

"That's new," Stefan's eyebrows went up, "Where the hell is he?"

"Good question," MJ headed back to her stuff on the chair, "Unless he's missing for over twenty-four hours, I have other things to be dealing with, so do not care."

She turned to Jo.

Jo was eating a croissant from Ric's bag, a piece sticking out of her mouth.

She noticed the quiet and looked up, pointing at herself, "Me! I'm the other things!"

"Yeah," MJ emptied the bag to the floor, a collection of objects and books falling out, "So, that book you gave me on The Merge – "

"Um," Stefan quickly spoke up, "I don't want to interrupt your flow, but I've gotta get to Caroline's?"

MJ nodded, "Go – "

The sound of beeping filled their ears.

"That's my breakfast," She realised, "Grab it from the microwave for me, then go?"

He rolled his eyes while half smiling, "Sure."

He left, and MJ continued talking.

"So I stayed up all night reading – "

"Have you slept recently?" Ric cut in this time, "Because I swear you've said the phrase up all night reading every day when you've talked about Bonnie stuff."

Silence.

"MJ," He sighed, "You promised me you were sleeping at the moment."

She huffed.

"You've been going to bed early – I mean, have you just been reading all that time?"

"I'm taking two hour-long naps and trying not to blow up your apartment," She waved a hand, "Not the point – The Merge."

"Yes," Jo nodded nervously, "The Merge."

"It's super interesting and incredibly screwed up," MJ held up a collection of paper she'd pinned together, "You can really easily cheat, and it's not actually about magic strength. It's about perseverance and stamina."

"It's just a power contest," Jo's eyebrows furrowed as she and Ric sat down.

"It's deeper than that," MJ sat on the coffee table as Stefan placed a plate of waffles in her hands and headed out the door, "Siphoners are only found in coven's that have rituals like The Merge or Floare – think about why that is."

"Because the merge creates them?" Jo slowed eating her own breakfast to think, "Do Floare have an equivalent?"

"No," MJ shook her head, "It's to do with curses and balance."

Her salvaged mother's journals had been a godsend the previous evening.

"For Floare, I exist because of our detachment to natural ancestral replenishment."

Liz had also revealed that the police department had taken possession of everything Ryos had left behind that morning, meaning MJ had access to all of his magical texts and Floare research. It was just waiting for her in some storage unit Liz had gotten to keep her officers from messing with any of it. There were probably several books on Floare and Gemini rituals to dig up if she dared to go through it all...or thought she could do it without feeling too guilty about it.

"Floare need to reproduce with supernatural creatures to keep the magic up – it's all about internal power in our blood, but my dad's human."

Was Kol right about MJ needing to find her dad again?

"Half-human blood, and no ancestral wavelength, means I don't get an automatic well of magic inside of me. It's nature's way of punishing Floare for 'leaving'...like, 'you wouldn't have these defects if you'd stuck with everyone else' type of a thing."

"How does that work?" Jo leaned forward, "If you guys aren't part of the ancestral cycle, how can you get punished?"

"Again, it's the half-human thing," MJ summed up, "Floare can still do ancestral magic, but the Floare Spirit Gate acts as protection when we do. Stops general spirits from harassing us. Siphoners aren't attached to the gate as strongly."

Which she assumed was the reason why she'd managed to use magic when living Floare weren't meant to have access to their power when communing with the spirits. Then again, MJ had also only been able to do that when almost dying, so who knew. Not the time.

"That lesser attachment comes from the human parent, and it means we can feel the ancestral link we're missing. First children are simply weaker, second children? Your body starts trying to compensate for the lack of sufficient magic in our bodies by siphoning it from other people."

"So Gemini Siphoners are our punishment for The Merge?"

"That's the gist I'm getting, yeah," MJ nodded, "Two siblings – twins, started your coven."

According to her mum, anyway.

"But something went wrong, and one of them ended up killing the other," She forced her voice to stay level and unbothered, "They tried to undo it by using pure magic and emotion to bring the person back."

Because people always tried to.

"But, the rules of equal exchange...they gave their own magic and life up, into their twin, to do it."

Ric realised what she was saying, "Like what you did with John and Elena. Switching his life force to her."

"Yep," MJ flicked over a few pages, "Killing a sibling is a pretty big no-no. But so is resurrection. So correcting the mistake made it worse – it especially made it worse when the transfer of power also transferred all the other coven members magic into him."

"In our coven, the leader takes on the strength of all the members," Jo caught Ric up, "And if they die, we die. It's why they're always needs to be a new leader."

His eyes went wide at that reveal.

"The ritual was created to stop people from just trying to kill and transfer power between each other, and to basically create a House of Blood for the family in charge."

"Lucky us," Liv came back through the door, "And because of the power transfer, every now and again, a siphoner pops up?"

"Yeah."

Liv stared at all her research, only one of Ana's journals out. Everything else from other places.

"How'd you know more about our coven than we do?"

"I asked around."

"Who?"

"Uh," MJ half glanced at Ric, "Over the past few years, I've set up a bit of a network."

Liv stilled, "A big one or a small one."

"Pretty big."

"...MiMi Pasare or The Witch Doctor?"

"I'm MiMi; my brother was The Witch Doctor."

Once Caroline had fallen asleep, she'd logged into the inbox, bullet-sped her way through as many questions as she could, then started asking her own questions. It had felt cheap to send out a blast email after six months of no replies.

MJ had found as many Merge equivalents as she could in other countries, asked questions, and gotten answers about how they all worked to compare the situation. If there were loopholes to the similar ones, they could potentially find a way to guarantee that Jo won.

"Oh my god," Liv started to laugh, "Of course you are."

MJ rubbed her neck.

Jo looked around at them all, "What's MiMi Pasare?"

"It's the place you go if you have any supernatural questions," Liv's tone was as dry as ever, but she had a hint of respect on her face, "Because she'll either know the answer already, or she'll get you the answer."

MJ tried not to feel embarrassed by her positive reputation.

"It also means she's modern witch history. Beyond the destruction of The Other Side."

Jo had been out of the loop for a while, "...Modern Witch History?"

"It means she's MR," Liv studied her while her lips twitched up, "She's the reason Hybrids exist."

"I am," MJ was careful, "What's it to you?"

"Oh!" Liv dismissed her worries, "I don't care about that stuff."

Purely a hater of siphoners before knowing MJ, not everything else.

"I just know it means you know Original Vampires."

Clearly, Klaus wasn't a topic Tyler had brought up with his girlfriend.

"I do."

"They suck," Ric took the sheets from MJ to read himself, "Back to The Merge?"

"I was really confused how it scaled power if it's just two people holding hands and chanting," She shrugged, "Turns out, it's mainly to do with who's built up more magic. But when Kai's a siphoner, that bit's less important."

Jo perked up, "It is?"

"If it was just based on that, he'd always win."

A shift.

"He could just siphon you. That's not real strength."

"I hadn't really thought about that," Liv looked through two grimoire pages MJ had put on the table.

"It's about intention, willpower, and motivation," MJ listed, "So...I have a question to ask you, Jo. And you must answer it honestly."

Jo's big eyes were too nice, "Okay?"

"Do you want to kill your brother?"

Silence.

"Because," MJ slowed her words, "If there's even a sliver of 'no' in your head. You're going to lose."

"MJ," Ric's face was a mix of emotions, "You said you could teach her."

"I can teach her magic," She agreed, "The summer after senior year? I doubled my power in, like, three months – and I was already strong. And, I can teach her to kill something. But I can't teach her pure hate."

MJ's moments of murderous rage never ended well, and they'd never really been intentional either.

"But, if there's any part of her brain that's reluctant? That isn't dedicated to winning and ruling the coven? She's going to lose."

The truth.

"Because Kai doesn't have any doubts."

"And when he's in charge," Luke was standing in the doorway, "He'll kill the rest of us."

"Luke..." Liv looked at him, agitated.

"We're leaving."

"No – "

In a moment, Luke and Liv vanished.

"That's not good," MJ muttered.

Jo looked around, trying to see if she could sense them.

"He cloaked then teleported," MJ paused her, "Which is..."

"Which is what?" Jo stood up, rubbing her hands over her arms, "What do you know that I don't?"

"It means Luke's stronger."

Jo blinked, "Oh."

"If he can shut her down that quickly," MJ sighed, "He's winning their Merge."

It felt like a massive overreaction, but it was true. You needed a lot of power to teleport, and teleporting another person was a whole other ballpark that involved their consciousness having to be okay with it or wholly overpowered and forced to relocate. And Luke had done it in a few seconds while also cloaking them.

"Not our problem," MJ exhaled slowly, "Let them argue it out. We need to get started."

Until she left, she was in charge of training.

"I hope you brought running gear."

Jo frowned, clearly shaken, "Running gear?"

"Magic isn't just about the number of spells you can cast," MJ pushed her half-finished plate to the side and stood up, "It's about how much your body can take."

Endurance.

"If you want to overpower Kai, you need to be able to take your own magic doubled, plus some."

Ric was shaking his head, "What does that mean?"

"Kai siphons her magic during the merge to try and win," MJ spelt it out, "The merge funnels that into both of them to see who breaks and who preservers, so..."

She clapped.

"Time to get active and build that strength up."

"Okay," Jo nodded, determined, "I had to do physical training in the army, so, let's just get on with it."

While Ric went to grab her clothes, MJ taught Jo how to control the fire spell more smoothly. Fewer words, more focus, and most importantly, more power. Then they moved on to wind charms and levitating one.

Teaching was like finding a favourite toy, memories of happy childhood moments wrapping your mind up in a warm blanket of support. Words were easy because they'd already been said, brains paraphrasing to romanticise everything until it was the most appealing thing to think about. MJ knew what to say, how to hold herself, and how to get Jo into a groove that worked for her. She'd been Jo when she'd been fourteen, having to start practising all over again, and she'd been through the same lessons with Davina post-resurrection.

She also had a massive smile plastered on her face, thinking about everything Kol had promised to teach during his first lifetime, now able to cast the magic and show her himself.

Once Ric was back, they headed outside, watching MJ map out their course, the pair jogging with Jo in case Kai showed up.

MJ added an extra layer of what Ric dubbed as torment by randomly asking magical based questions or getting her to cast spells as they went.

It was chaotic and stressful, but it made one thing very clear.

Jo was willing to commit.

The answer to MJ's question was yes.

She would kill her brother; she wanted to – because doing that would save everyone else. Because, unlike MJ, Jo could make that choice and accept it, rather than letting it haunt her to a crushing degree.

Could MJ let someone kill their family member?

Could she teach them to?

She knew what that guilt felt like, and she was training someone else to make her mistake...

But, it was Kai.

The man who'd taken gasoline to her mind!

If Jo was in, MJ had to commit to.

It was Kai!

She couldn't feel bad about helping Jo kill him. She wouldn't.

The running pop-quiz was followed by lunch, eaten on the front lawn, then, they slowly returned to levitating charms, Ric popping out again to buy mid-afternoon snacks.

"This is – " Jo groaned as a book fell to the floor, "This should be this hard."

"Eh," MJ shrugged, "Levitation charms are common but difficult."

She raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Just because I use them a lot doesn't mean they're easy," MJ put her hands up, "I deliberately use them a lot because they're hard."

"Explain?"

"Keeps my brain doing stuff," MJ gestured out, and they started to notice the random picture frames floating on the window sill and the mantelpiece, "Forces me to focus and gives the excess magic trying to burn me up something to do."

MJ dropped them.

"There are yoga steps I'm texting you," She pulled her phone out, "Do the yoga for the body and the soul; it's how I stay in tune with my magic. Do levitating charms at the same time. Once you've got that down, it's a sign you're body's in a good place for a fight."

Jo smiled at her, then concentrated.

The book picked itself back up, humming slightly to open and flick through pages.

That was when Damon walked in.

The book hit the floor with a thump

"That doesn't count," Jo complained, "I was distracted."

Damon eyed MJ up, "Good or bad?"

"Getting there."

His phone rang, "Magic camp. How may I help you? Whoa. Elena?"

Nothing.

He switched to speaker.

"Elena?"

There was a loud crash

"Dammit," Kai's voice, "Bingo."

The sound of a bone-breaking and the phone hanging up.

MJ rubbed her face, "You've got to be kidding me!"

Jo was wide-eyes.

"Tag team it?" Damon looked at MJ.

"Yup," She snorted a little, "To think, I almost lasted a month in Mystic Falls without Elena getting kidnapped."

Damon really looked at her, "You really ready to go against him again?"

"Don't think I have a choice," She could leave Elena to rot, but like...Jeremy, "Where is she? Or are we tracking?"

"She said she was at the High School."

"Wait!" Jo put her hands into the air, "If Kai has Elena – I have to come."

"Not happening," Damon scoffed, "Your barely capable baby magic won't last against his coo-coo pants magic."

Jo looked at her.

"I think you have the power to help Jo," MJ phrased it kinder, "But, now is not the time to deliberately put you near Kai."

"Still – "

She didn't finish the sentence.

MJ and Damon shared a look

"Kai has a month to practise too," Jo realised, "That's – that's not good for me."

MJ thought about it, "...I think I might know how to stop that."

"You do?"

"...I have an idea..." She didn't like it, "Anything that blocks magic can usually be siphoned, so we can't lock him up anywhere. But, there might be a way to keep him down and distracted."

"For a month?"

MJ swallowed, "Yeah."

"Perfect," Damon didn't ask for her to elaborate, "We'll go deal with the evil twin; you stay here and tell Ric where we are."

"I want to help!" Jo protested.

"And we need to keep you safe," MJ reminded her.

There was a thud on the stairs, Jeremy coming down it, dressed and holding a weapon up like he was posing for a photograph.

"It's my sister," He'd been eavesdropping, "I'm coming."

"Let me guess," Damon didn't even turn around, "Jeremy's holding a crossbow."

"He might be," MJ bit her lips to stop herself from laughing at the sight of him, "As much as I love it when you play Disney's version of Pocahontas, Jer, we can't kill Kai."

"He has Elena. Yes, we can."

"No one is killing Kai," Jo protested.

Jeremy properly entered the room, "I'm not letting Kai kill Elena."

"Nobody's letting anyone die," MJ tried to kill the tension, "Damon and I will go, Elena will be safe, and Kai will be occupied."

Jeremy gave her a look, "You're being vague. Why are you being vague?"

"Because," She stomped her foot lightly, "I know what I need to do; I just don't want to do it."

But she would.

"So, can we please just get on with it?"

Damon smiled falsely at Jeremy, "You heard the witch."

Jeremy scowled.

"Butt out."

"Jer," MJ drifted towards him, "You can come, and Kai can kill you, or you can trust me."

He looked at Damon.

A scowl.

"Jer."

The crossbow was put down.

"Thank you."

"If you guys don't come back in two hours, I'm coming after you."

"That's perfectly reasonable," MJ would be done before then, "Now,"

She gestured her thumb at Damon.

"Let's go."

Saltzman Apartment, Whitmore - 18:50

"Jeremy," Elena almost jolted up, "I - I need to tell Jeremy."

A sharp inhale.

"That I'm okay - what happened - "

"I've already texted him and Matt that something's happened to MJ," Tyler was holding back a growl, "Still waiting for someone to tell me why the hell she's unconscious?"

"Getting to it," Damon huffed, "You asked what happened."

"And I didn't realise that meant signing myself up for an audiobook."

"Don't be an ass at me 'cos your girlfriend's in a tough spot."

"Isn't that your entire personality?" Ty retorted, "Considering your girlfriend is the one who gets kidnapped every few weeks? Oh wait - no, you were a douche before her too."

"So were you - "

"And," Liv's icy tone jumped in, "I'm not in a tough spot."

"I just told everyone that your brother would beat you, Twinderella," Damon reminded her, "If MJ wasn't doing this, you'd be dead."

"And maybe the last thing I'd do with my life would be staking you," She taunted, "Sounds like a good way to go."

"You're not dying," Tyler's voice was clear, "Luke's on board with the plan now."

"He is?" Jo perked up, trying to keep arguments to a minimum, "That's great!"

"He can help teach," Liv agreed, "Both of us, with MJ's lesson plans - and we can do this."

"Hey, yeah," Caroline interrupted, "Not to kill the family bonding moment, but my unconscious best friend's probably incredibly dangerous plan?"

"It's not that dangerous."

"How do you know that?" She snapped, "You've literally just told us that she's unconscious and cast some mental prison spell on herself and a guy who screwed with her!"

"It's MJ," He defended again, "She'll be fine!"

Tyler was at the same level of anxiety as Caroline, "Does anyone know how to look after someone like this?"

"I know how to look after someone in a coma," Jo put the phone on the table, "But this? I don't have the faintest clue what this is?"

"A Chambre De Chasse," Damon recited dryly.

"Which means?"

"Room of hunting."

"In 'witch'," Jo smiled falsely, "Not the French to English Translation."

"Chambre De Chasse?" Liv repeated, "That's what it's called?"

"Yep."

"I don't know what that is either, but I can look into it?"

"Well," Damon mused, watching Ric, "Lucky for us. We don't have to worry about it."

Elena spoke up, "We've got to keep some kind of an eye on her?"

"As I've already told this side of the phone call," Damon spoke to the phone-ins, "The spell came from a special friend of hers. And, he's flying in to take over for us."

Silence.

"Apparently, Sabrina had a boyfriend hidden away in New Orleans."

"A boyfriend?" Elena checked she'd heard that right, "You said friend earlier."

"I was being deliberately allusive," He gloated, "She called him on the ride to rescue you. His one condition for her using the spell was that - "

Damon put on the voice people use when they talk to pets, batting his eyelashes dramatically.

"He got to take care of her while she was out."

Mystic Falls - 14:00

Damon drove them to the High School while MJ phoned Kol, aware that the vampire would hear the conversation but knowing she needed to talk to him to get the information she needed. And to explain herself. She felt so bad about having to turn to him with excuses and a request, but it was Kol...she'd make it up to him.

"You're calling earlier than usual?" He commented after picking up.

Damon's eyes darted to her at the sound of the accent.

"Yeah," She deliberately looked out the window, "Slight change to our holiday plans."

He made a clicking noise, "What's happened?"

MJ cringed.

The clear disappointment, but also complete lack of surprise, hurt. Kol had every right to sound that mix of emotions when it came to Mystic Falls versus her commitment to him, and the second MJ was finished with this rescue mission, she wouldn't be picking them over him ever again. She hated having to pick them over him – but she wasn't picking them.

Sure, they were saving Elena, but MJ was only doing it because of Kai's involvement.

Kai was her demon, and she was going to slay him, even if it took months.

"The sociopath kidnapped Elena," She needed to get to the point, "We need a month to train Ric's girlfriend to win The Merge, so we need him weak and unable to practise. Getting her back allows me to do that."

"Bring him here and lock him in the dungeon with the magic blocking chains."

"Kaleb," She alerted him to the fact she had supernatural ears on her, "Think about that suggestion for a second?"

He did, "...He'll siphon them."

"Yep."

"Not to sound selfish," Kol started slowly, "But you're coming home on the twenty-fifth, MJ."

His incredibly pointed tone was somewhat heartwarming.

"This man attacked you – multiple times. Messed with your mind. Abandoned your friend. And is openly obsessed with you."

The words were firm.

"Don't come home just because you said you would."

And she had meant it at the time.

"Don't come home because I miss you immensely."

MJ had so been looking forward to giving him the presents she'd got for him.

"Come home because it is where you are safest," He finished strong, "Where you actually have people on your side. Helping."

"I..." She wanted to laugh, "Fair enough list of reasons, but it's complicated."

"MJ – "

"I need to keep him down."

"If I have to play it safe, you have to play it safe too," Kol declared, "That, or I'm coming to find you, and I'll rip his head off myself."

MJ bit her lip, Damon jabbing her in the side and mouthing, 'who are you talking to?'

"You are not coming near here."

"I will do what I need to do to keep you – "

"Pause!" She didn't want to waste time, "I phoned with two purposes. We can argue about personal safety after the second thing."

He accepted the suggestion, "Okay. Pause."

"Thank you," She tapped a hand on her knee, "A Chambre De Chasse. How'd you make one?"

"...Mira."

"Please?"

"No," He answered instantly, "I'm not an idiot, MJ! I can guess what you're planning."

She didn't respond.

"You didn't believe you were in the real world because this siphoner fellow went in your head. I'm not giving you a spell to make it happen again!"

"You know it'd work!"

"It wouldn't," Kol argued, "You need him out for a month. You can't stay in a Chambre De Chasse for a month."

"I can if I combine it with a sleeping preservation spell," She justified, "And, even if I don't, I have the Floare magic."

"That you can barely use!"

"I can't use it for Floare stuff. As a power store, I can," MJ specified, "That's enough magic to support four hundred witches minimum."

And all of their ancestors.

"Meaning it'll definitely hold Kai and me for thirty days – and! It doesn't even need to last thirty days. We just need him out of magic and too weak to run – so like, fifteen or something."

"MJ," He sounded exhausted, "You can't be serious."

"I'll be home as soon as I can, but," She took a sharp breath in, "I can't live knowing he's just out there."

Kai's voice played in her dreams every night.

"I want us to have our holiday together, but I'll just be a paranoid mess if I don't do this."

The sound of him moving about was clear in MJ's ears.

"I want to be focused on you, and just be a girlfriend for once, and have an amazing Christmas - but I won't if he's constantly in my shadow - and that's not fair on you," She pleaded, "You deserve my focus."

There was a pause as he seemed to consider it.

"In the Chambre De Chasse, I'll have control. Not him. And if he's in there, he can't hurt anybody else."

Kol cleared his throat, "Switch to Facetime."

"I'm in a car with Damon."

"Switch to Facetime, Mira."

She looked at Damon.

"Go ahead," He seemed very torn between driving and being completely enthralled in figuring out who she was talking to.

She hung up and answered the separate call Kol made.

"Hey," She smiled sadly, "Sorry."

He was scanning her face.

"I can't let him hurt anybody else."

"Then kill him."

MJ tasted metal in her mouth, forcing herself to consider it.

He was able to watch the colour drain from her face, "Or freeze him."

After the Prison World, could MJ just kill someone again?

"Freeze, and let someone else rip his spine out."

"Hm," Damon mused, "I like him."

Kol and MJ shared a look at that declaration.

"Sorry," He cleared his throat sarcastically, "Pretend I'm not even here."

"If he's dead, Tyler's girlfriend dies."

"See," Kol tilted his head, "You know what my response to that is."

She grimaced, "I do."

"But," He was sitting on the spinning chair by her desk, half turning back and forth, "I know it's the wrong thing to say – if that earns me any points?"

She couldn't not smile at him for trying.

He was telling her to let Liv die, but in a way that made it seem like it was normal and reasonable.

"See! Smiling!" Kol pointed, "I take that as a win. Now let's kill the guy!"

"No," She shook her head, "We're finding a way for as many people to survive as possible."

"The last time you did that, you died, MJ. You got everyone but yourself back."

Silence.

She hasn't done that.

Bonnie was still out there - alone.

"Kaleb," MJ stressed the name, and his face faltered, "Please."

"That's not fair."

"You use puppy eyes on me all the time too."

"...That's true."

"I promise I'll make it up to you," MJ promised, "And you know I'd rather be home."

She literally hated her own plan, and that didn't happen often.

"But, this – I, I – I need to stop him."

A fact.

"Trapping Kai in a Chambre is a witch mental torture chamber, right?"

Reluctantly, he nodded.

"He'll be trapped in my world; I'll be fine. Jo and Liv will spend the month doing the teaching I already mapped out, and then everything will be okay," She tried to speak her dream into existence, "Then, the only things I have to think about are you and Bonnie."

And Hope.

"Fine," He rubbed his forehead, "I'll send you the spell."

"Thank you."

"Under one condition."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I come to Mystic Falls and look after you."

MJ blinked.

"If you're in there for more than a few days, your magic is going to go haywire."

More than it already was.

"I know how to make sure you don't burn up," He pointed out, "I'll do the sleep preservation spell, so you don't have to rush and write it in now, potentially making a weak spot in the Chambre for him to exploit."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

He bit into his cheek, "I'll be on my best behaviour."

"Ric will probably be the one watching over me – and Jeremy, and – "

"Yes," He rubbed his neck, "And so will Tyler."

MJ kept looking at Damon to see if he'd put the pieces together yet.

"With his knowledge and potential to slip up," Kol knew what he was getting himself into, "It'll be lovely and awkward for everyone."

"I don't want you in the middle of all this on top of everything in New Orleans."

Kol now being on Klaus's 'hated' list for betraying Rebekah.

"You need someone watching your back M," He wasn't gonna take no for an answer, "Because we both know that everyone else has a second agenda."

That usually ended with her getting hurt.

"I'm coming."

She let herself picture it.

"I'll bring the hard copies of the ascendant writings I sent. See if I can figure out how to repair it while you're out – and then, if I can – "

"You can have my sole attention," MJ finished the thought for him, "Because Bonnie will be back."

"Ah, yes," He smiled, "My second agenda."

"Deal," She looked back at him with the same soft expression, "If you really want to be here..."

Putting him where he'd died was the last thing MJ had wanted to do.

"Come look after me."

"I'll send you the spell."

"Get the next flight out?" She was torn between being giddy, knowing he'd be with her, and terrified of repeating history, "If there's a Breeze one, get it."

He'd be okay. He'd be okay.

Bringing Kol back to Mystic Falls, and everything going okay, would prove that the universe hadn't brought him back just to take him from her all over again. He wasn't a punishment waiting to happen. They weren't the universe's stress-ball, and number one targets for emotional trauma and death.

He'd be okay.

"Is Breeze cheapest or fastest?"

"Fastest, but mainly in the afternoon."

"I'll be on it," Kol assured her, "Making sure you sleep easy, there to wake you up."

"And you will be subtle, and you'll behave, and you won't kill him in his sleep."

"But – "

"Nope," MJ pointed at him, "You will leave him alive."

He gave her a sly look, "You are beautiful when you try to be bossy."

"Shut up," She knew her face was flushing, "You will behave."

"I'll bring Elijah's old swords with me."

"You will not bring weaponry onto a plane."

He winked.

"Please don't get stopped by the police," She needed him to realise something, "You're too pretty to be held in airport prison."

"I won't," He smiled softly, "I'll spell my way out."

She was smiling too, very aware he hadn't agreed to keep his identity quiet, "See you soon."

"Bye."

MJ ended the call, placing her phone on the dashboard to see when the Grimoire pages had been sent through.

Damon turned a corner near the High School.

MJ felt awkwardness itching at her arms.

"Sooooo," He nodded, "You have a boyfriend."

She didn't respond.

Could she call Kol her boyfriend yet?

She wanted to, but she was also kind of scared to.

...She actually quite liked other people calling him her boyfriend...

"One that your silence indicates Ric doesn't know about, and you don't think he'd approve."

"He doesn't. And he won't."

"Wonderful," Damon continued moving his head up and down, "And he's just going to show up, and you'll be what? What's this Chambre Torture Witch plan?"

"A Chambre De Chasse," Her phone blinked, showing a notebook page Kol had clearly rushed to write out for her since he didn't have the spell on hand, "Participants are unconscious while their minds are trapped in a mental scape made by the caster."

He smiled, "So Kai will be in a magic coma for the month. Brain exhausted and weak."

"Exactly," She knew it was a good plan, "The problem is...so will I."

"And Jo will be teaching herself."

"Liv will be teaching her."

"If Luke gives her back."

"And if he doesn't, Jo can follow my instructions."

Damon didn't look happy.

"I was always going to leave her to it," She reminded him.

"You can teach over Skype. You can't teach while unconscious."

"I mean..."

"Don't even try and suggest a way to," Damon shut her down, "That would be a ridiculous thing to ask you to figure out."

"You've asked me to figure out the impossible before."

Silence.

"Hm?" She called out, "Finally feeling bad about it?"

He looked into the wing mirror, "Did I ever apologise for what happened with your mum?"

MJ hadn't expected that.

A beat.

"I mean," She lifted her brows, "Have you ever apologised for anything?"

He shrugged.

"I can't even remember anymore."

It felt like an awful thing to admit. MJ had been so mad, and Damon probably hadn't, but then, she did have a memory of him admitting they'd been wrong and semi-apologising after Stefan had been locked in a safe. And a few other smaller things. Sure, that didn't mean he had for everything else, but their heart-to-heart waiting for Ric to die could've definitely had an apology in it. Her brain was still pretty foggy in some places because of the hex situation that night.

"Well," He sighed, "I am. Now tell me how on earth you have faith in Jo to figure this out without you."

"I spent a summer training my magic to be what it was last year," She didn't want to linger on the apology either, "I've given her the exact same steps but condensed and without the time spent travelling. It took me three months because I was literally taking so many days off to travel."

"Fine," He turned into the school parking lot, "She's gonna fail, but fine."

"Damon – "

"I'll kill Kai mid-merge or something."

"Messing with the magic could kill Jo too."

He grimaced at that realisation.

The car stopped, and they climbed out.

"Jo will win."

"My living room disagrees."

"Relax," MJ closed her door, "With a bit of practice, she'll be merge-ready in no time. And, unlike me, Kai doesn't have a healing factor to keep him healthy. His body will be weak, his mind will be exhausted, and he won't have a magic source."

Damon closed his door softly, "All we gotta do is leave you two lying there for a month?"

"Pretty much."

"Fine," He crossed his arms on the car, "And your boyfriend is gonna show up and do what exactly?"

"He's a witch," MJ was keeping her heartbeat steady in his ears, "He'll keep an eye on me to make sure nothing's going wrong since he knows the spell."

MJ walked around the blue Camaro and put her phone on the hood. Damon and Elena had blown the car up when they'd driven into her explosion, but Stefan had rebuilt while they'd been gone and given it back to Damon, which was very cool of him. MJ had to admit the car was nice. Both Salvatore's had nice cars.

Should she get a new car?

Sell the Ryos ghost that probably lived in the trunk to someone else.

Maybe she and Kol could get a car – he definitely cared about cars and which car he drove, so he'd pick a nice one for them.

"So..." Damon watched her read, "He's a witch?"

"Yep."

"And you said his name was Kaleb?"

"Yep."

"And how's he involved with the Mikaelsons?"

"Can you let me figure this out?" MJ motioned to the tiny screen, "It's a complex spell."

Damon gave her about a minute and a half of quiet, watching her summon a few candles and a bowl from thin air, taking off her necklace and placing it next to the phone.

"What's our game plan then?" He looked towards the door, "Other than your witchy prison?"

She pulled her pocket knife out, cutting open her palm and letting the blood drip into the small bowl as the candles lit, the air feeling slightly thicker.

"I can't be seen. Kai will kill Elena just to spite me."

"True," MJ's reasoning for not letting Jeremy come, "I'll cloak us. We get in, get Elena, get you two out. I'll knock Kai out, take some hair, and you explain to the others why we're not waking up any time soon."

She and Kai weren't related, so she couldn't use the same spell Finn had, but Kol had written that change into it for her, praise his useful and cute head.

Damon groaned, "Ric's gonna kill me for letting you do this, isn't he?"

"He's gonna kill you for a lot of things at the moment," MJ willed the blood flow to hurry up while pulling a hair from her own head out, "You cool with letting me handle most of this?"

"Don't feel like I have a choice if I wanna save my girl."

"Good," MJ stopped the bleeding, watching her hand patch itself up while tying her hair around Kol's daylight ring, "Once Kai and I are down, the magic will hold. The only way he'll get out is if something happens to me, so don't let anything happen to me."

"Understood."

"Damon," She held her hand above the bowl, dragging the tip of the hair around the blood while focusing, "I'm not kidding. I'm literally knocking myself and letting a sociopath live in my mind for a month."

She had wanted to take the plan back.

She'd wanted to let Kol talk her out of it.

But, MJ also knew that keeping Kai locked up with her was the only way she'd feel safe.

"He used my memories to mentally torture me."

Damon knew that her admitting a detail of the experience to one of them was a big deal.

"Do not let me get screwed over. For once in your life, trust a plan that someone else has made."

"Understood."

MJ closed her eyes, and the ring on the necklace flashing gold, the hair vanishing into it.

She put it back around her neck.

"Good," She blew the candles out and picked up the bowl, "Let's go then."

She waved her hand, and suddenly, a gust of wind raced past them.

"And we're cloaked."

Walking into the empty school corridors ruined the momentary High School nostalgia she'd felt during the drive. She still felt happy about the place, the good times – the achievements. Tyler. But she also felt slightly ridiculous. None of them even went to the High School anymore, yet that was the place Kai had chosen?

MJ had to think it was because he recognised it from her head, which she really didn't like.

Elena had called them.

Kai knew that someone would try to rescue her, meaning they could be walking into a very twisted game of mental torture with somebody who'd siphoned the majority of The Traveller's spell. He could have cast a complex illusion already, but MJ had to have faith that her illusion magic would be stronger.

"You're little 'trust me' moment with Jeremy feels a little cruel," Damon commented.

"What?"

"He thinks you're gonna get Bonnie back to him."

"I am."

He scanned the locked classroom doors, "It's been a month, MJ."

"Because you and Elena didn't listen to the one instruction I gave you about the ascendant."

"Sorry," He rolled his eyes, "It's not like we knew Kai was running around."

"You saw me destroy one by coming in and out," MJ argued, "You knew going in to get her could've done the same."

Damon didn't respond.

"I have a few ideas, and I'm working on them."

"Your witch boyfriend is working on them."

"He's where all my books are, texting me stuff I didn't bring," MJ kept her reaction small, "And New Orleans is generally stocked full of magic books. If he wasn't willing to get stuff to me, I would've gone home already."

"You never answered my 'who is he to Klaus' question."

MJ paused to look behind them, then to the left.

"And I know he's gotta be tied to the Mikaelson's somehow," He tutted, "Otherwise, you would've just told Ric about him."

"Does this really matter?" MJ turned on him, hands on hips, "We're trying to save your girlfriend. See if you can hear her or something."

He listened.

Then he walked down a different section of the hallway, "I can hear Kai yammering."

"What's he saying?" MJ was happy to change topics.

"He said it's a shame you don't have vamp-hearing."

"Real mature."

"'Real mature' is leaving Elena without her memories when you're happily in a relationship with someone."

MJ held her tongue.

"I get that you're allowed to be mad," He was in a mood now they were out of the car, "But I didn't realise you were that petty – especially if you've moved on with someone else."

"Oh," She laughed slightly, "If only you knew."

That got her an eyebrow raise, "Knew what?"

"Doesn't matter," MJ diverted again, "You've got to lay off Jo."

"Lay off Jo?" He scoffed, "She's the reason we're keeping this nutjob alive."

"Because that's what you have a problem with?"

"He's the reason Bonnie's trapped."

"We're the reason Bonnie's trapped," MJ countered, "We got you out. You told everyone we were dead, wasting time when you could've been looking for the ascendant. And I stupidly let her get me out, then let the two least trustworthy people I know look after the device we needed to get her back."

Damon's face dropped.

She fought off her instinct to apologise for upsetting him.

She knew Damon and Bonnie had bonded, but still. She'd only told the truth, and she wasn't going to backtrack because of a frown.

"We both just want her back," He listened again, "And I'm not too tough on Jo."

"I get it, man," She was happy he'd stuck to that topic, "You and Alaric were bros. A girl comes into the picture, and it's awkward."

"It's not awkward; it's annoying."

"Because he's looking out for her?"

"Yes," Damon snapped, "At the expense of logic and reason."

MJ stopped and gestured around, "Coming from you?"

"Shut up," He glared at her, "Your boyfriend clearly has some things in common with me."

"Except," She stuck her chin up, "Did you notice the big key difference."

Damon looked confused.

"Would you let Elena put herself in a coma with a psycho for a month?"

"Tt," He had to give her that, "Ha, ha. So he has the Stefan Salvatore 'it's your choice' good guy gene."

MJ wanted to laugh at that implication.

"Whatever. Still suggested murder to keep you safe," He put his sarcastic voice on, "Can't wait to meet him."

"I don't think you'll get on."

Damon froze, grabbing her wrist to stop her too.

Kai walked out of a room, drinking a soda, dressed in a Timberwolves PE shirt.

The sight had a special type of rage bubbling up inside of her.

How dare Kai wear a Timberwolves Shirt!

The Timberwolves were her team!

He stilled.

Damon and MJ shared a look, her eyes shutting to make sure the cloaking spell really held.

He put his can into the recycling bin and walked away.

MJ picked the can up, "Perfect."

"Gross?" Damon watched her wipe her thumb over the mouth section to get the remains of spit, "What are you doing?"

"Saving time," She dipped the thumb into the bowl of blood she was still holding and muttered the spell under her breath.

Her head felt a bit lighter as she brushed her thumb over her earrings.

"Let's find Elena."

Damon nodded, leading them in a different direction to the way Kai had gone, following his ears.

Elena was tied up in the corridor outside the entrance to the school gym, the janitor's closet on the other side was open, a few mops and a bucket tipped over, showing the signs of a struggle. Her skin was sweaty and red, like it had been washed in vervain, and she was trying to undo the ropes on her body, but magic was keeping them in place.

Well, they were until Damon put his hands on hers, crouching down to help her up.

"Hey," He smiled.

Elena's eyes were big and shining, "How are you here right now?"

"Invisibility spell," MJ summed up from behind him, "If you can see us, it means you've joined the party."

She was standing there, her usual necklace on, casual clothes, a single set of earrings, no cuffs, a bowl in her hand. A bowl that could've caused a problem for them, blood sitting in it, swishing around, tempting Elena after a night of torture.

Her face softened at the fact MJ was there, after everything, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They didn't need to be best friends to be polite.

It was nice to hear some appreciation for her effort again.

She motioned behind them, "Let's get you two out of here."

"My ring," Elena shook her head, "It's gone. Kai melted it into nothing."

Damon grabbed her hand to check, "What?"

"Doesn't matter," MJ assured them, "The tunnels go under the school, remember."

"Good call," Damon pulled Elena properly to her feet, "Boiler room. Stat."

They quickly crept through the halls, MJ's visibly annoyed, glancing around like her skin had started to crawl.

It was a sign that something was happening, so, as she navigated to the boiler room, she let herself start to chant. In her mind, Kai was clearly searching for magic, and while fighting that off to maintain her spell, MJ was also trying to build a mental trap. Yes, she had the power to do it, but concentration was the problem. She was doing multiple spells, and she had to keep an eye out, and she had to protect Damon and Elena, and then, she also had to keep moving.

"You okay?" Elena asked her.

She nodded and kept chanting.

Then, Kai walked out and into the middle of their last corridor, blocking off the tunnel entrance.

"You see," He called out, "I can't see you."

Slowly, his feet turned, scanning everything.

"But I know my prisoners missing, and I know somebody's there."

Damon looked at MJ carefully.

She pointed to the door, "Go."

"Now," He walked towards them, "Cloaking is a Gemini special, so I can sense it in the air."

Elena and Damon snuck around him to get to the boiler room door.

Elena stopped, "Are we leaving her?"

Damon stared back at her, then at the closed door, "She has a plan."

"And, I know my siblings wouldn't be stupid enough to come find me, so my money's on..." His voice trailed off, "The brave little bunny."

MJ dropped the spell on herself, "I've gotten used to Little Bird, but calling me bunny just really creeps me out."

"Hello, MJ Floare-Ruiz."

She bowed dramatically, matching his tone, "Malachai Parker."

"All on your lonesome?"

She didn't respond.

"I mean, that is what you always are," He teased, "Alone."

"Where's Elena?"

"You tell me," He gestured about, "Seems she's gone walkabout despite the fact I tied her up."

MJ rolled her eyes, "She's a vampire."

Elena and Damon still hadn't risked opening the boiler room.

"She probably broke out."

"My magic's pretty strong," He doubted.

"Maybe she has more fight in her than you realise."

"Or maybe you broke her out."

"Maybe I did," MJ taunted.

Kai tutted three times, then took a step towards her, "You don't have to be alone, MJ."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Once I win the merge, I'll have all the power of the Gemini Coven – that's living and dead."

She tried to tune him out.

"I'd say that's the equivalent of all that Floare Magic running through your veins."

"What's your obsession with us being equals," She really wanted Damon and Elena to just leave so she could get on with her other spells, "You were gonna let me die in the Prison World; what's changed?"

"I wasn't going to let you die," He put his hands up, "I was proving a point and having some fun."

Her suspicion confirmed, voice flat, "Wasn't fun for me."

"Then maybe you need a new sense of humour," Kai appeared directly in front of her, "I'm really getting the hang of this magic stuff. Is Jo?"

No.

"Your face doesn't seem confident."

MJ went to punch him, but he vanished again.

"Cloaking spells, illusions," He boasted, "You know, it's all the same wheelhouse."

She twisted her wrists to lock him in place, but Kai jumped again.

"They're tied to those mental spells I was using on you too."

A broom appeared out of nowhere, and he drove it into her stomach.

She smiled.

"Why are you happy?"

"Kai," MJ looked down at the injury, "Not to teach you about Biology."

Her hand wrapped around it, pushing back.

"But there's no way human strength was gonna drill that inside me."

The illusion broke, and he was just in front of her.

"It would've hurt like hell and left a bruise," She assured him, "But with your stick arms?"

Her eyes momentarily trailed up and down.

"It wouldn't have broken skin without a spell propelling it forward."

He was slammed into a row of lockers.

"A spell like that one."

"Duly noted," Kai hit his hand to the side.

The lockers behind MJ exploded, discarded books bursting into flames all targeted at her, only for MJ to whip her arms back, putting them out.

Then, she screamed.

It was like her blood was boiling, grip on her Chambre bowl faltering. Steadying it meant looking away from Kai, giving him another chance to vanish. Elena and Damon finally opened the boiler room door, still watching her, nervous.

MJ turned to try and work out where he'd gone.

Behind her.

His hand was on the back of her neck, "Care to let me try again?"

"Love too," She spun around, elbow slamming into his jaw.

All it took was a second to shove her thumb in Kai's mouth, forcing his face up by pressing into the back of his front teeth and beginning the second part of the spell.

"Locus Captionem Lide Insidiae Prendre Au Lespri Piège Chasse Esprit Pèlen Laches Chanm."

They both collapsed to the floor in a thud, the cloaking spell dropping with them.

Saltzman Apartment, Whitmore - 19:00

No one knew what to say to all of that information.

"The boyfriend knows the spell," Damon stressed, "He's a witch. We don't have to understand it; we just have to use the next month to make sure Kai doesn't win the merge."

No response.

"Back up!" Caroline's shrill voice came through the phone, "Boyfriend? A witch boyfriend?"

"Seemed very worried about her," Damon loved being the holder of information, "English accent again too. Name's Kaleb."

"Since when!?"

"Is that really the thing we should focus on?" Tyler spoke a little too quickly, "What about – "

"Oh my god!" Caroline didn't let anyone else talk, "You knew about him, didn't you?"

Silence.

"You knew about him, and I didn't!?"

"In MJ's defence," Tyler coughed awkwardly, "She was gonna tell both of us together. It happened by accident."

Elena raised an eyebrow, "By accident?"

"Klaus called her while she was at mine and outed it."

Caroline growled, "You have got to be kidding me!"

The reaction was a little over the top.

"Katherine snitched on her and Kol over the phone, now Klaus does it?"

A scoff.

"Wow. When she wakes up, I'm giving her a serious friend-tervention about the people she involves in her love life – no! Wait!"

Something clicked.

"That's what she wanted to talk about yesterday!"

"It doesn't matter!" Tyler stopped her, worried, "You're sure he's coming?"

"Refused to send her the spell unless she said he could come and make sure she didn't get hurt," Damon repeated, glancing at Ric, "Seemed to know all about us."

From the name listing he'd overheard.

"Also didn't seem to rate us much considering he doesn't trust us to prioritise her safety right now."

Ric's eyebrows creased, not even listening, just thinking about why MJ wouldn't have told him in her 'all things amazing about New Orleans' wrap-up.

"We just need to make sure nothing happens to her until he gets here, and then we don't even need to worry. We can just play nosy friends while Jo gets her act together."

"Hey!" Jo crossed her arms, "My act is together! I made Elena a new daylight ring."

"Not to be a downer," Stefan spoke carefully, "We can do shifts to keep an eye on her and everything, but what about the mental prison?"

Something that had been somewhat brushed over by everyone else because of the boyfriend announcement.

"What if Kai finds a way to get in control and completely rips her to pieces by the time she wakes up?"

Ric looked at MJ's soundly sleeping face, "She'll win."

Jo smiled at his faith.

Even after all the recent arguments that made it seem like he didn't trust her - desperate to micromanage her life, he had faith. He'd never actually lost it, Ric had just seen that she'd lost faith in herself and wanted to give her a fresh start because of it.

But MJ didn't want fresh, she wanted progress.

"It's MJ," He spoke firmly, "She's the strongest person in the world."

And they didn't even know what she'd been through in the Prison World beyond 'Kai Hell.'

"There's nothing he can throw at her that she hasn't already lived through. Nothing she can't take."

An asterisk to that phrase that Ric knew he needed to add.

"Not if she's fighting to keep us safe."

Fighting for herself was a whole other discussion, but fighting to protect other people?

MJ never failed.

The doorbell rang.

"Unless someone ordered takeout," Damon checked his watch, "That's our mystery witch."

An awkward pause.

The people present were waiting for Ric to get it, but it was clear he was still processing everything.

"Let me do the honours," Damon's expression was almost gleeful at the chaos he was somewhat getting to unleash, "Please."

A Train Carriage. A Streetcar. A Forest.

MJ woke up inside the world she'd made first. If she'd had more time, she would've sculpted the spell better, locking them in a room somewhere, trying to make it more like psychological torture specifically for him.

Since she'd rushed it, she was sitting on a blue plastic chair inside the centre of her own mind.

A New York subway carriage, inside a New Orleans Streetcar, the woods of Mystic Falls right outside the doors, and cityscapes of LA, Chicago, and New York through every window. Tiny cities, filled with skyscrapers, they were travelling past at a speed that meant they could watch. The sun at a fixed at a point in the sky, mid rising, turning the light of the place into a mess of reds and blues and yellows that made it feel like she'd spilt her watercolour set over her eyes.

She had one leg propped up, under her, the other dangling to the floor, smiling as Kai jumped awake.

He was staring at her, "What did you do?"

She shrugged.

He took the place in, standing up and turning around.

Beyond the door, there were autumn trees, crisp leaves on the floor, shining in the golden morning sunlight, the dirty green colour of the outside just about visible as he pressed his face to the glass. The old-timey vibes of the outside versus the silver railings and blue plastic nature of the insides were one of her favourite things, but she wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't like MJ had ever intentionally spent time in her mind before, but she'd grown unnaturally fond of it while waiting for him.

The interconnectedness of New Orleans and New York when it came to her life.

New Orleans was her home – her roots. Everything felt like it led back to those childhood years. But, in reality, New Orleans hadn't shaped her the most. It had set her on her path, while New York had been where she'd truly been created. Marcel was the first nightmare; being buried alive was the worst one.

"Better question," He stopped looking out of the windows, "Where are we?"

"You said you wanted a second go at my head."

His face went from confusion to disbelief.

"Welcome, Malachai Parker," She stood up too, "Get comfy, because we're gonna be here for a while."

He laughed, "You didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"Just put me in your head," He took two steps closer, away from the chairs, "You wouldn't."

"It's precisely where I wanna be," MJ smiled, focusing on the buildings in the distance, "Though, we aren't just in my head. We're in a Chambre De Chasse."

"I don't know what that is."

"It's a mental pocket dimension," She lulled, "Like...a section of the astral plane, where our souls and minds are held until I'm ready for us to wake up."

"I.e." He started to frown, "When Jo's ready to merge."

"Pretty much."

"Come on, MJ," He narrowed his eyes, "You know she can't beat me."

She turned from him to look at the collection of subway maps and posters on the walls.

"And I'll figure a way out."

"There is one," MJ answered honestly, "If you can work out what in this room represents you, and break it...you're free to go, completely collapsing it."

"Ooo," He perked up again, "So, it's a game?"

She sat back down on her seat, "I guess so."

The posters were from all over too. New Orleans events she'd attended in the previous year, childhood moments, a few school concerts and plays. Ryos's science fairs and music concerts – from the days where they'd all been so certain he'd join some classical orchestra or jazz band when he grew up and travel the world with them.

At least he had gotten to travel.

MJ's eyes softened at some of the New York ones.

The first dance recital Pri had invited her to.

The invite Marceline Roux had sent them after Aaryan had been turned by her blood, a formal notecard telling them to join her for some afternoon tea. Now Kol had told MJ that Elijah had turned Marceline, her popping in and out of their world since then, so many small details like that made sense.

The Mikaelson's were the type to just invite people to tea because they'd been semi-responsible for the death of a family member.

Except, Marceline really hadn't been at fault for it.

Whatever.

Marceline was the last person MJ needed to think about while trapped with Kai.

"So," He sat down too, "Somewhere in this carriage, there's an object that represents me. And an object that represents you?"

"Correct."

"And if I get them, I get out."

"If you get yours, you get out."

He started to read over one of the posters, "And if I break yours?"

"You won't find it."

"So sure?"

"The person you think I am and the person I actually am are two very different people," She relaxed, "You're not going to figure it out."

"But if I do?"

"No clue," She shrugged smoothly, "Maybe you'll banish me and be trapped all on your lonesome again. Stuck until you find what I tied to you, screwing yourself over."

"Lonesome," He repeated, "It's such a cute word, don't you think?"

She kept her lips in a thin line.

"Cute word – awful feeling," He clapped his hands together, "We both know all about it."

"You know far more than me."

"Would I?"

"Nineteen years of solitude."

"That phrase," He placed his arms on his knees to lean forward, "I like it."

Kai's eyes just had a way of looking at you, and drawing you in, leant forward like that, unblinking.

It was the dark edge to him..

MJ knew from Katherine that an intelligent but 'evil' edge caught her attention way too quickly, and she had to be so careful walking that line while alone with him.

"Sounds all theatrical and fun...plus, it's an interesting one coming from you."

She 'took the bait,' "Is it?"

"I heard it when I was last in your head too," Kai watched her mind try to work out why, "Five hundred years of solitude."

It almost seemed to echo.

"For the tormentor wearing Eleanor's face."

"Katherine," MJ nodded, "Yeah. That was something I thought about her a few times."

He scanned her, "A much calmer reaction this time around."

"Because you're not shoving her face at me while zombies blood-up the High School floor," She stated calmly, "And I'm not bleeding out and traumatised."

"How is the wound?"

MJ lifted the bottom of her shirt to show her unhealed stomach.

"It and your face seem to want to be permanent," He commented.

MJ looked to the window, staring at her reflection.

"Nothing to be ashamed of – "

"It's the mark of magic," She stopped him, "They're not healing because they're life-ending injuries The Floare Magic saved me from."

It was almost like a physical debt. A reminder that she owed the magic everything. Without it, Ryos's spell would've worked, and every vampire she cared about would be death.

"So?"

"Once I return the Floare magic, I'll be able to, and," MJ really stared at them, "To be honest, they're faint...it's not like they're constantly bleeding...they're just there."

"Simply existing."

A surprisingly soft quiet came over them.

"Just like us," Kai ruined it, "Deformities the world can't get rid of. Yet, are they actually problems?"

She sighed.

"Things that give personality."

"Ah yes," MJ nodded, "Having my face cut up definitely gave me personality."

"There's something charming about a painful experience."

She focused back on him.

"Pain makes things memorable."

MJ swallowed carefully, making her first step, "Is that how you make yourself feel better about your childhood?"

Silence.

Then...

"Nah," His dorky grin was back, "I just told myself it'd make a great origin story one day."

Kai had clearly meant it to be some kind of joke, but she didn't laugh, heart-tugging at the way his eyes hadn't matched the happiness of his lips. Humour to cope with pain, the opposite of Klaus's teary monologues about family loyalty, but giving off the exact same energy with his eyes.

He noticed that it didn't land the way he meant it to, so changed topics, "Again, where are we?"

"We are sitting in the subway car," MJ pointed to the end window, "The number seven specifically."

She couldn't help stop her smile.

"Takes you from Queens to Manhattan in New York."

A smooth explanation.

"I caught it a lot growing up, usually at hours I should've been asleep."

Not that she'd tried too hard to sleep, willingly accepting any 'midnight mission' handed to her.

"My friend Pri would talk me into doing something she dubbed 'adventurous.'"

He was looking around again.

"You're not going to figure it out, Kai," She had so much confidence in that, "You might as well just listen to me talk."

He considered it, sitting back in a lounging manner, legs stretched forward and arms along the backs of the chairs on either side of him.

"Listen, or share yourself."

"Ellina already tried this on me," Kai mocked, "You're not going to go into my childhood and find any proof of emotion."

MJ chuckled, "Not what I'm trying to do."

He didn't seem to believe her.

"Kai," She tiredly lifted her forearms, "Soon, someone is going to cast a sleep preservation spell on me, meaning I will literally be in perfect health for as long as Jo needs."

It was Kol, so MJ knew he'd do it right.

"The two of us will be here, with only each other."

He tilted his head slightly, really looking at her.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" She reminded him, "Time with the one person in the world who gets it."

He still didn't seem to believe that she'd trapped them together.

"Who can truly know you, no flinching back."