a/n: I published a cut scene book for MJ called Tales For The Time Being. It'll be Kora, MJ x Klaus, MJ x Katherine, etc shorts <3
Check out the first chapter and contribute thoughts :)
- Bea xx (this chapter is messyTM)

~***~

"You should've just told us who you were," Tyler was on the floor, rested against the sofa, eyes half-closed, "When you saw us in New Orleans."

"Here I thought you'd forgotten about that."

The pair of them had been together for most of the evening, and Kol was confident Tyler was doing it to play guard. Not of MJ, but of him. Maybe to limit his ability to just murder Elena, possibly to help him feel 'accepted' – either way, Kol was oddly appreciative of the gesture. He knew he'd have to get to know Tyler eventually, but he hadn't exactly been looking forward to it. Now, it was done and dusted.

Caroline and Stefan had come back with food, quizzing him on the finer details of what MJ had done while they ate. Then, Kol had managed a 'casual' conversation with Stefan.

They'd left again, him returning to Tyler.

"I'm happy I didn't."

Tyler pulled a face, "I wouldn't have been such a dick about the car if I'd known it was you."

"But," Kol lifted a finger, "You would've told me that MJ had passed – and I might've murdered you on instinct."

"And now I'm happy you didn't tell us."

Kol grinned, "Kidding."

"Sure you are."

"Mortality has come with side effects," He lamented, "When I actually found out, I went into a slump of sorts – really riled my mother up since she would've preferred for me to be angry."

"Slump?"

"My girlfriend was dead," Kol repeated, "The expected murderous rage only clicked in when I saw Klaus...instead, I was forced to deal with a pathetic emptiness."

"Grief."

"I'm aware of what it's called," He rolled his eyes, "My title for it is simply better."

Tyler fought off a smile, "MJ said your mum was locked up in a tomb?"

"Trapped as a vampire," He confirmed, "MJ 'has dibs' on mental torture before we off her."

"I'm just gonna pretend I don't know that."

Kol raised an eyebrow.

"I don't wanna think about her doing that at the moment," He shrugged, "Seems like a bad idea while her head's not right."

"Her head's fine."

Tyler didn't look convinced.

"She's somewhat traumatised," Kol wouldn't deny that, "But she's getting better – so, in a few weeks, she can have at it."

"Okay."

Kol shifted up on the coffee table, "That sounded fake."

"I don't know," Tyler was about to dose off, filter low, "She's not gonna be fine in a few weeks."

"She'll be in New Orleans, with me," Kol smiled, "She'll get better."

Tyler just swallowed, "I hope you're right."

"Have some faith."

"I have a lot of faith in her," He glanced at MJ's face, "But she killed herself. I'm not gonna set myself up for something bad to happen by being optimistic and 'ignoring' the negative signs."

"She's happy," Kol reinforced, "And any negativity will be banished from her life the moment I'm made aware of it. She'll have no reason to be depressed."

The werewolf just nodded, hoping he was right about that.

"Ty," Liv wondered into the room, looking even more exhausted than him, "Bed. Now."

"Wanna crash here?"

"No chance," She leant on his shoulder, "I need to be away from other people for at least eight hours if I'm expected to not be a bitch in the morning."

He shot her a teasing look, "You're always a bitch, though."

"I tend to only sleep six," She smiled deviously, "Up."

Tyler looked at Kol, "Anything happens?"

"I'll fix it, then tell you."

"See ya tomorrow," He took Liv's hand and let her pull him up.

"I know how many books are meant to be here. Their family heirlooms," She gestured around, giving Kol a look, "If any of them are missing..."

Kol tried to suppress his smile at the blonde, "It's cute that you think you're scary."

"Scary is ready to kick your ass."

"Play nice," Tyler tugged Liv towards the door.

"Yeah, Liv," Kol mimicked, "Play nice."

"Jo's gone to bed," She rolled her eyes, pulling open the door, "See ya 'Secret Boyfriend.'"

"Evening."

And they were gone.

Kol's eyes drifted back to his girlfriend, biting his lip.

He was basing what he'd told Tyler on how MJ had been when she'd left New Orleans. Sure, she wasn't sleeping much, but they were talking every night – and he was sure she was happy.

"Um," A voice brought him back to reality, "You mind?"

Elena Gilbert was coming into the living room, a blanket around her shoulders, pyjamas underneath.

He tried not to growl, "Mind what?"

"If I sleep out here?"

"I do, actually."

"Then let me rephrase," She took another step in, "I'm gonna crash in here too."

"So respectful of other people's wishes."

"Because I want to make sure my friend's okay."

Silence.

"She's only doing this because of me," Elena didn't pause, walking towards the back of the couch, facing his spot on the coffee table, "So I'm going to look after her."

Kol didn't look impressed, "How exactly?"

"By taking her temperature. Checking her pulse," She tried, "I know I can't do much, but I can do that."

He rolled his eyes.

"And I can help her boyfriend, even when he insults me."

He scoffed, "You know you deserve it."

Another silence.

"You address her as 'friend?'" He taunted, "How do you live knowing you're a reason she took her own life?"

"I died during the collapse too."

Kol hadn't known that bit yet, eyes narrowing, "Because you no longer wished to be alive?"

Her eyes dropped.

"Or because you just had to be included?"

They flittered shut.

"Do you ever get tired of the mental gymnastics your mind performs to equate yourself to her?"

Her body went rigid, snapping open to stare at him, "Why do you talk like you know me?"

"You've probably spent your entire life being made to feel special," He realised he might've messed up, "When you're actually incredibly boring and easy to read."

"You don't know me."

"I know enough."

"You're protective and worried about your girlfriend," She tried to keep calm, "But stop taking it out on me – I didn't want any of this to happen."

He shoved to his feet, "You think that's a good enough excuse?"

"It's better than whatever yours is."

"My girlfriend has dedicated her life to saving yours – and it killed her. It's a mighty fine 'excuse.'"

"I didn't want her to die!"

"But you're more than willing to kill the people she cares about as if it's nothing."

"This is about Kol?" She shook her head, flabbergasted, "You want to talk about the reasons MJ killed herself?"

"Please don't tell me you think he's to blame – "

"She went looking for him!" Elena wasn't backing down, "That's why she was so willing to be there!"

"It's – "

"I heard everything you said until you lit that candle."

The silencing spell had been slowly chipping away at Kol's strength, but he refused to put it out with vampire's in the apartment.

"Aren't you tired of sharing her with a ghost?"

Kol had to be careful, no matter how much he wanted to just hex her right there.

"I don't like that I hurt her, but did she mention that her 'boyfriend' literally had his hand around my heart when he died?" Her eyes held a lot of hurt, "That he was going to use a saw to mutilate my brother?"

"She did."

"I was keeping my family safe," She stressed, "I was terrified of what he might do, and I was seconds from dying – Jeremy killed him because the choice was 'guy trying to de-limb him,' or his sister."

"I think MJ made it clear," He had to phrase it that way, "That Kol wasn't planning on killing anyone until you attacked first."

"MJ wasn't there."

"But did he not tell you he'd spare Jeremy?"

She paused again, "...How do you know that?"

"Jeremy told MJ."

"No he didn't."

"You're right," He quickly realised he'd spoken too impulsively, "I think it was Kol's ghost."

Elena blinked, "What?"

Jeremy hadn't actually been there during that conversation. Kol shouldn't have mentioned him.

"They kept in contact. He told her what happened."

"And I ask again; you're okay with that?"

A beat.

"You said you guys started your thing last year," She'd been making mental notes, waiting for something she could use to befriend him, "And she was talking to her dead boyfriend all that time?"

"And?"

"You seriously don't care?"

"Mira has lost almost everyone in her life," He knew most boyfriends would've disapproved, "She had her mother saved to a necklace too."

He had to make his reason a good one.

"Why would I force her to cut that cord when it's how she makes peace with her past?"

She scanned him, "She's told you a lot."

"Of course she has."

It was clear Elena was running out of things to say.

"If you're done, you may leave."

"So..." She inhaled slowly, "Yes, Kol said he wasn't there to kill Jeremy, but he's also a Mikaelson."

"And?"

"They lie. They take 'their word' back."

"Because you're any better?"

"I make mistakes," She pressed her palms into the back of the sofa, "I'm trying to do better."

"But you still compare yourself to MJ; it's insulting."

"I don't think we're the same."

"You do," He challenged, "You think you've lost a few people in recent years, and that means you have any idea of the pain she has lived through."

"All four of my parents died, plus both guardians. My brother's died twice. My best friend has too."

"Because of your own mistakes, Elena!"

She couldn't look away from his face.

"She was eleven, and she was watching TV, and her mother shoved her in a cupboard, then got her heart ripped out before her!" He felt his fingers twitching, "She's was fourteen, and two vampires decided – ah yes, let's eat her, then buried her alive. And you think your brother dying because of your fool's errand for the cure compares?"

"I died drowning because of Rebekah Mikaelson. Because something out of my control happened, and she took it out on me."

"So killing her brother was actually about revenge?"

"No!" Elena's arms came out, "But that's what I mean when I say you don't know me! Yes. I've made dumb plans, but that doesn't make every single thing connected to me my fault."

He rolled his eyes.

"I used to think like that – I handed myself over to Klaus willingly! Ready to die, thinking it'd mean everyone else would get to live," Her eyes were welling up, "I did everything he wanted, and he still killed Jenna. He still compelled my mum to burn to death in front of me. For trying to keep me safe."

Her breathing was heavy.

"It's impossible to stop people from risking their lives for you when they spell you to your house. When you're the weakest person in the room, so they almost break your wrist dragging you home."

"You're a vampire. You're not weak anymore."

"And I started to fight back," She leant forward, "And it still isn't enough. I do nothing; people die because of Klaus, because I was born. Or Katherine, because she's jealous of my life. Which I guess means it's technically my fault?"

She hadn't asked to be a doppelganger.

"I try to do something about it, and I'm the bad guy. Not the people who did it to me first? Who'd happily have done the same, and worse, to me?"

"And what did Kol do to you?"

She turned from him.

"Hm."

"Okay," Her voice was low, "You actually wanna know why I wasn't willing to hear him out?"

Silence.

"It wasn't about the cure or Silas."

"Then, why?" He had to know.

They'd been willing to work with Klaus.

And Elijah.

And Rebekah.

Was he really that much worse?

Was that why two of his brother's, literally at war with each other, somehow found a rhythm together by telling him how awful he was?

"What happened with Kol was a build-up from the past two years of my life."

A tipping point, in a way.

"He compelled my boyfriend and targeted my brother, so I acted rashly. Because when I hear people like him out, I end up at a funeral. Because, for two years, they've gone back on everything they've said. And I'd rather blame myself for trying to fight back than blame myself for being a naive idiot."

"Naïve idocy is not listening to MJ. If she cared about him, you should've trusted her judgement...or did you not believe that she cared about him?"

"I do now."

"Now?"

"MJ's hard to read when it comes to that stuff," Elena was studying his face, "I can never tell."

"And Kol?"

"He cared a lot about her. But that was obvious the whole time."

"Was it?"

"He was in love with her."

Kol shifted at the declaration, not comfortable with it.

"But that didn't exactly help."

"Why not? Surely that knowledge made you think he was weaker."

"Love means he would've happily killed all of us to 'save' her."

Psychotic and love was an interesting mix.

"And, that night, I was only thinking about keeping my brother alive. Thinking he was in love made him a whole lot scarier...I've seen how far people are willing to go when they're in love."

Silence.

Elena moved around the sofa to plop herself down on the chair.

"Leave," He wanted her out.

He wasn't comfortable with her sitting there, willing to throw the 'l' word about.

"I've made a lot of mistakes," Elena didn't budge, "But I'm trying to be a better friend. So I'm going to sit here and watch over her, so you can get some sleep before you pass out."

"I'm not going to pass out."

"I smelt the nosebleed earlier."

"I'll drink some boosters."

She nodded towards the kitchen door, "Go ahead."

Kol gritted his teeth.

She wasn't looking at him, meaning he couldn't have a glare off, and it was infuriating.

"You can claim to have gained some self-awareness," He glowered, "But that doesn't change how you only care because MJ can get you Bonnie."

"It's not."

"Then it's about how she can siphon your compelled memories back," Kol had revelled in MJ's rant, "The moment she does, you'll lose interest all over again."

"Make your booster tea," Elena gave up with the argument, "And get used to the fact I'm not going anywhere."

Her head turned to face him, expression hard.

"I want my friend to be okay."

He held the stare.

Then, Kol's brain started to turn.

He dropped his head, almost like a sign he was giving in to the 'Petrova fire.'

"Okay," His feet moved towards the kitchen door, "...Would you like anything?"

"Um...yes," She'd taken the bait, thinking she'd won him over slightly, "If there's any sweet tea?"

"Coming right up," His sinister smile was masked as he turned and walked into the adjacent room.

She wanted something sweet?

Fine.

Revenge was – and even if Kol couldn't just kill her, he could drug the tea with herbs to give her nightmares.

Yes, that meant using more magic, but it would be worth it.

And he'd gotten an answer, in a way.

They hadn't killed him for simply being him...

Elena had decided to kill him because of everyone else's history with her.

Even if she'd played on Jeremy's fear that Kol might hurt MJ, that had been to get him to act, not because he'd actually been too awful to ever picture loving anything. Or because it had been too hard to picture MJ caring about someone like him. It had been based on how Klaus acted, hurting the people he loved on a loop. It wasn't him.

By the time morning actually came, Kol was exhausted but revelling in the pleasant time he'd had watching Elena toss and turn. He'd concluded that she wasn't actually as stupid as he once thought, just far too confident in her mediocre abilities. Or maybe she was just used to people giving in to her?

She'd taken the tea without question, even asking how to make it after she'd jolted up, desperate for air and glancing at every shadow like Klaus might jump out of it.

Kol had popped into her head, adding visions of Klaus in for the fun of it.

He'd finally found Klaus a purpose!

Dream demon.

It was around four-thirty when he'd been struck with a confusing realisation. MJ had survived physical struggle after physical struggle, and it had affected her, but she'd always bounced back. It was the mental stuff that really mucked her up. Kol could hear her speaking in the same quiet but supportive tone it had at the New Orleans diner if she learned about his.

She'd tell him that she understood, encourage it a form of slight revenge, but deep down, even if MJ now hated Elena, she'd feel bad.

No.

Kol wasn't messing with Elena's sense of reality – it wasn't the same.

It was simply nightmares to make her feel sick to her stomach, and it would repeat for a few days given the multiple cups of herbs she'd consumed. And it was on one of her enemies! Torture was one of Kol's best skills, and he should use it on MJ's enemies.

When other people started to wake up for the day, Kol was in the kitchen, texting Davina. He needed to keep his brain active, or he'd fall asleep, and he refused to fall asleep when his one job was to keep MJ safe.

Logically, he should trust Caroline or Tyler too, but...while MJ offered second chances, he'd be the level-headed one. Happy to gut people if they messed up her second chance.

As a ghost, he'd seen Caroline try for an MJ-Elena reconciliation. Tyler's actions had cost MJ his mother.

His phone went down when Jo and Ric walked in. 

"I've found something," He pointed to a grimoire Liv had left behind.

He'd made his way through three of them, properly scanning, looking for anything he might've been able to use.

"You need a leg up - and I need someone to locate some things for me to give you that."

Jo was still rubbing the sleep out of her eye, "What?"

"I read through the rules for the Merge," Kol explained, "There's nothing to say you can't use boosters or blockers – past contenders have blocked themselves to allow their twin to win."

Jo and Ric shared a look.

"Block Kai, and you win."

"How do we block a siphoner?" Jo took the book herself, "There's no magic store to steal, and I've never heard of any spell that would deactivate the ability – and anything magical, surely he'd just siphon – "

"Jo," Kol smiled, pushing his breakfast bowl away, "Listen."

She took a nervous breath in, "Okay."

"MJ was shot by a gun that almost killed her. It stole any magic she put into her body."

"John's gun," Ric clicked, "We find wherever it ended up, shoot him before the start of the merge, and he'd be powerless."

Kol pulled a face, "Right idea."

"MJ survived that," Ric remembered.

"Which is remarkable," Kol glanced down at his phone again, "She really shouldn't have."

"But she did," Jo lost any sense of excitement she'd gained, "Which means Kai might too."

"The gun wouldn't work on him," He was building up to his point, "I'm not suggesting it."

Ric came closer to the counter, "It wouldn't work?"

"That gun was so deadly because of MJ's Floare side," He explained, "It sucks magic. So does she. If she was empty of magic, it would act like a normal gun. She would still bleed out, but it wouldn't stop her from siphoning everything else."

"MJ stole power from the fire," Ric slowly remembered, "And released it in a big enough burst to get the bullet out of her."

That detail helped Kol understand the story. Where a standard witch would've called on the ancestors, Floare used nature's forces. The fire's life-force to save hers.

Why she stuck her hands in plants when she was low in energy, draining them in her place.

"What she lacks in a natural ancestral store," Kol's hands started to move, "Gives her the gift of siphoning."

There was a moment of softness on Ric's face at the word 'gift.'

"But Floare magic is the blood. She still carries magic within her."

"Which is why she experiences deficiency," Ric checked, "Right?"

"Correct. Ancestral siphoners are different."

"In what way?" Jo's turn.

"Kai can be channelled."

"Something MJ can't," Ric knew that too, "And she needs to consume small sources of magic constantly, or she gets sick."

"Ancestral siphoners simply can't cast a spell," Kol finished that part of it, "Both variations have their strengths and their weaknesses."

A beat.

"Though, the channelling part isn't that simple," Kol didn't let himself glance towards the living room door, "But that's not relevant to today."

His fingers tapped the pages quickly.

"Kai would siphon any magical object placed on him to act as a blocker, but I think I've found the loophole."

"You write a new version of whatever enchanted the bullets," Ric assumed, "And cast on him?"

"Maybe," Kol had more than one plan in case they didn't work, "Option number two."

"Is?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where Ryos Jung's things ended up."

A stillness.

Ric trying to compute the request.

Jo clicking the name was MJ's brother.

"Augustine," Kol pitched, "MJ couldn't siphon the venom he made for them – how?"

"They never found out..."

"I think it's time we do," He wanted his hands on the house full of supplies Ryos had had when living in Mystic Falls, "I hope you didn't throw away all the things he had hidden in the Traveller Base?."

Ric bit his lip, "We didn't."

"But you haven't given it back to MJ yet?"

"In their defence," Jo's voice was soft, "She's still having violent nightmares and episodic low periods...if her brother left things behind, the items could very easily trigger something in her."

"MJ will be fine," Kol wasn't bothered, "I'll ease her into it."

Jo and Ric seemed to be having a mental conversation.

"And it's our best bet at finding a way to beat your brother," He needed those supplies, "Even if Ryos didn't write down how he cancelled out a siphoning ability, there might be a few vials rolling about. I can decode them and create a version of that gun that would work on him."

"I'll see what I can get you," Ric decided.

"You'll have to give it all back to MJ eventually."

"I'll tell her about it when she wakes up," He didn't even argue, which was a nice surprise, "Some of the books are in my office. All the science equipment and the rest of the boxes were put into storage, then a handful of things went to the police department."

"They did?"

"Ryos had a box dedicated to family memorabilia," Ric clearly didn't know how to phrase it, "Some old photos of MJ and their dad...trinkets he must've collected from somebody from their old apartment."

Kol wanted to assume Marcel?

"And he had medical records, birth certificates – family lineage. Liz took hold of them to update MJ's information since there's basically nothing on hers, and Ryos was technically responsible for a large number of citizen deaths."

Anyone possessed by a Traveller who died casting one of his spells.

"She created a profile for him...thinks it might help MJ accept what happened."

"So she can view him as a criminal," Kol was torn about whether he agreed with that plan or not.

It could actually make MJ feel worse.

"She should be given her parents medical information," He definitely knew she'd loved memorising them, "And she deserves all of those Grimoires."

"If she wants them, she can have them."

They were all from different countries across Europe, written in modern and forgotten languages that meant they were useless to the witches in Mystic Falls. 

"I'll see if there's any venom lying about," Ric assured him, "Or I'll dig up the box of notebooks."

"Good."

"Might take me a while. The storage unit is pretty far out," He tilted his head, "Didn't want anyone to just find it."

"I'd like to know if there is anything useful before tonight."

"I'm not gonna stay the night in there, so yeah."

The rest of the morning was peaceful. Stefan checked in again, Caroline having fallen asleep at the hospital, then Jeremy. Kol wasn't sure how to react to Jeremy's check-in.

He'd stepped inside the apartment, taken one look at MJ's body, then stormed out again.

Kol had some respect for that response.

He clearly hated the life they had, and he clearly didn't like MJ putting herself in danger all over again. And his relationship with his sister was also clearly somewhat strained based on his complete lack of response to her chasing after him.

She'd returned, he hadn't, and Kol had been left to keep topping up his spells, eyes daring him to fall asleep.

He'd repositioned himself on the floor, resting against the sofa. Looking at MJ was starting to stress him out, and, on the floor, he could occasionally glance up, hold her hand, and simply talk to the air about what he was planning, recreating a diagram for the magic-stealing gun.

Kol hadn't actually been on two feet for its creation, but he had helped make the sword it was based on.

He'd asked Davina to check if any books in the family tomb had it recorded.

...

Ryos Jung had created something he could inject into vampires that deliberately couldn't be siphoned. If he'd done that, Kol wanted to find a way to do it himself – or at least de-construct his method.

He refused to see Ryos as the genius MJ did.

He wouldn't give the ghost that ego boost.

His brain was fried, and his eyes were closing.

No.

More tea filled with boosters, then a walk around the apartment to keep him up and functioning.

Kol would probably have a shower once Elena and Damon left, but the couple were taking their damn time, and it was making his eyes twitch.

He found himself standing in front of Kai.

"Calculator..." Elena wandered into the room, moving cushions as she searched, "...Calculator."

Kol closed his eyes and counted to ten.

"Where is my calculator?"

That method tended to turn into a countdown to his explosion, so he stopped and thought about something else.

"...Calculator..."

Another set of footsteps.

MJ.

Think about his wonderful girlfriend and how much she was going to love Christmas back in New Orleans. He would be waking her the following day (the twenty-fifth), and they would be flying home. He'd already brought the plane tickets and organised his version of a present since she'd made him promise not to buy her anything.

"Of course," Elena came to a stop next to him, "Under the catatonic serial killer."

Kol opened his eyes, watching as she leaned down to pick the device off the floor, under Kai's hospital bed.

Then she turned around and paused.

Ah yes, the second step of footsteps.

"Hey," Damon greeted.

The two had been oddly distant ever since they'd finished their dinner, him going straight to bed.

"...Hey."

"Sandwich?" He offered one he was holding.

"I can't," Her eyes were hungry though, "I'm late for my volunteer shift at the hospital."

And it was nearly lunch.

He smiled and taunted her with it.

Elena caved, taking a bite from his before grabbing her jacket.

Silence.

"That daylight ring definitely working?" Damon eyed up her new one.

"I'm not bursting into flames."

"You're also standing inside," He gestured out, clearly unconvinced, "In the shade."

"I know everyone has their doubts about Jo's magic," Elena defended, "But she has an entire month to get stronger and win The Merge."

"Less," Kol corrected, "MJ and I are leaving tomorrow. You can keep him coma-ed up, but if I figure out how to make his siphoning ability useless, they could merge in less than a week."

"See," Elena pointed at him, "Kaleb has faith."

"Kaleb's been here for all of five minutes," Damon retorted, "And looks ready to gut the guy himself."

Not an inaccurate judgement, them not realising his white knuckles weren't just out of anger towards Kai.

"Which would save us from having to rely on Jo anyway."

"A little bit of support wouldn't kill anybody," Elena tried.

"Speaking of killing people," Damon stood next to Kol now, staring at Kai too, "Still counting sheep or whatever the hell psychopaths dream of?"

"His obsession with my girlfriend means I can only assume she somehow features," Kol's expression got darker, "But MJ's still got a hold over both of them, meaning I can't check what's actually being said."

"You want to go home tomorrow?" Damon's finger played with the edge of a pillow, "All you gotta do is kill him."

Elena started shaking her head at him.

"You wanted to on the phone call."

Kol stepped back, giving him a false smile, "You do it."

"Ric's already mad about how I'm treating his girlfriend," Damon shrugged off, "Can't risk making that worse."

"Not to state the obvious solution to that conundrum," Kol did want to kill Kai, but screw agreeing with Damon's Salvatore's plan of action, "But you could just be nicer to his girlfriend."

The vampire rolled his eyes, turning back to Elena, "Speaking of girlfriends, you're not free tonight by any chance?"

Kol groaned, closing his eyes at the fact he had to listen to them.

"Because I know this little Italian joint," He moved from Kai to her, "The eggplant's so good you actually think you're eating people."

Elena laughed, "And I happen to have a weird eggplant obsession."

Kol fought off the need to make a joke.

Damon and Elena didn't deserve his jokes.

And MJ would happily listen to him recap all of them once she was awake.

"Perfect," He smiled at her.

She matched the expression, "Great."

~Think happy thoughts to quell the need to kill~

-          Chucking Damon off a cliff.
-          Elena's insides being ripped out, allowing Kol to eat her heart – once he was back in his body, of course.

...If he went back to his body.

Because he would have to...but he would lose magic –

Happy thoughts.

Happy thoughts or he'd end up ripping his own ears off.

"And I'm thinking maybe after that, go the Arthouse Theatre," Damon continued, "They're playing some pretentious French flick."

Kol's eyes snapped open.

"I don't speak French, Damon."

"Not to see the movie, silly," His steps were bouncing, "To hide in the back and throw popcorn at the hipsters."

"Of course that's what you do," Kol couldn't hold his tongue any longer, "God forbid you actually appreciate another culture."

They'd clearly forgotten he was there.

"You've been alive for over a century," He targeted Damon, "Do you have no class?"

"Um...?"

"Film was invented in Paris," His words sounded irritated, "Though Eadweard Muybridge should get some credit."

Elena's face was blank.

"British American photographer," Kol filled her in, "MJ did a whole study on the guy."

During the month she'd been in Mystic Falls, Kol had been in her apartment, left to his own devices. To keep himself slightly busy, he'd gone through some of the things she'd had lying around, including her sketchbook. It was a breach of privacy, but he'd wanted a catch-up on her favourite artists and mediums.

"But the Lumiere Brother's get credited for the birth of cinema," Kol had looked it up after hearing MJ talk about film,' "Is the film pretentious? Or are you too small-minded to appreciate anything that isn't spoon-fed to you like most Modern Americans?"

"Have I hit a nerve?" Damon bit back, "Is that what you guys do? Go see all the boring artsy stuff that's considered deep because it's got male nudity and some unclear message?

Kol swallowed his resentment, "No, actually. We don't'."

He'd never been to a cinema. They'd only been brought to America in the 1900s, and again, he'd been daggered for most of that century, and he hadn't been sure what to see during his 21st Century travels.

"MJ prefers Korean cinema if she's going to be reading subtitles."

Or, that was the impression her catch-up list gave.

"And I can spot when someone's too lazy to pay attention to what's in front of them while still thinking they have a leg to stand on when criticising it – really think about what you're offering her."

Her, being Elena.

"You are over one hundred years old, and your idea of a romantic date is to take her somewhere, purely to make fun of other people for enjoying something."

Even if Kol hadn't really had a girlfriend before, he'd charmed enough women into thinking he was a gentleman. He knew what he was doing. Ish...in the past, he had. The modern-day had far more things to do, leaving him somewhat unsure of himself, Google responding with 3,180,000,000 articles when he'd asked it for advice.

Not the point.

Kol may not have been the nicest person, often laughing when people were shown up, but that was usually because the person had done something worth laughing at – their own fault. Not because they'd simply gone to watch a film.

"On that note," Elena clicked her phone to get the time up, "I've got to go."

Damon was glaring.

"And I also have a feeling that date idea was one we've already been on."

"It was."

"Which is cheating," She gave Damon a pointed look, "You already know everything about me."

"Cheating is erasing all of our epic memories."

"Yes," Kol mused, walking back towards the sofa, "A grown man throwing popcorn at people for being happy – the textbook definition of epic."

"I'm off at six," Elena saw Damon about to burst, "You can pick me up."

He nodded rigidly.

"And instead of trying to pick up where we left off, we're going to start at the beginning."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Great."

"Great."

"Good."

Elena smiled to herself, heading to the door, "Bye."

"Bye."

The door shut, leaving Damon and Kol.

"You two are the dullest people I've ever met."

"Shut up."

He flopped back to the floor, picking his page of scribbles back up, "You deserve each other."

"Stop being so rude to my girlfriend."

"I made her tea," Kol declared innocently, "Helped her sleep."

"After yelling at her about how everything she's been through doesn't matter."

Kol smiled at the page.

"Look at me."

He didn't.

"Don't make me force you to."

"Go ahead," Kol met his gaze, "Beating me bloody to try and be her knight in shining armour won't change the fact that everything I've said to her is grounded in the truth."

"Opposed to what? How we treat MJ being based on nothing?"

"Exactly,"  His eyes had a new edge to them, "Treat your girlfriend better? You make up for how you've treated mine for the past few years first."

He returned to the page.

Words upon words, trying to list every spell Ryos might've used in his version of the ripper virus.

Kol was missing something, and he couldn't work out what, and he hadn't slept, and his girlfriend was trapped with her torturer to save people he detested –

"You look dead," Damon commented.

"Why thank you."

"Go to sleep."

"No."

"I'm meant to be watching over Kai today anyway," He mulled, "She'll be safe."

"After everything I know you've pulled on her, I doubt that."

"You need to sleep."

"I'm fine."

"I can smell how tired you are," Damon repeated, "Blood is about to start leaking out of you."

"And I reject your concern in favour of lighting your girlfriend on fire."

Damon gave up, "Fine. Be like that."

Kol's frown only grew at his attempt to seem concerned about him.

"Stefan's texting me, so I'm gonna call him back," He motioned to the door, "And when I get back, I'll simply knock you out."

"You hurt me in any way – "

"Your girlfriend will thank me," He cut him off, "For making it so she's not waking up to witch-zombie drooling over her, but rather, a well-rested 'lover boy' who can actually look after her."

He shoved the door open, going to slam it, Kol just managing to mutter,

"Incedia."

Before it shut.

Damon yelped through the wood, shirt going up in flames; the migraine Kol was slowly gaining getting stronger.

God, he'd missed doing spells like that.

~***~

"I could tell you were lying," Kai added, "By the way."

"About what?"

"About now 'finding solace in another person.'"

"Why do you think I was lying?"

"Because," He pointed at her head, "When I was in there, you had some heavily protected memories."

Kol.

Most of New Orleans.

He'd been bordering on that part of her mind when she'd managed to wake up.

"Pretty sure they related to a guy."

"They did."

"There we go – completion in another person."

"It's evidence," MJ was slowly relaxing in her spot, "I'm not going to find peace in the person who tormented me when there's someone out there who I've trusted my heart to."

Except Klaus.

Kol felt like a part of her, but, in a way, so did Klaus.

Differently – but still...he'd tormented her to the point of not sleeping once upon a time too.

"Who I know is the only person I want looking after it."

"That's such a cute way of phrasing it," Kai looked like he was staring at a baby deer, "When can I kill him?"

She laughed.

"Other people will only ever let you down, MJ. You know that."

"Maybe I do," She admitted, "But I still have hope."

"You haven't had hope for a long time."

"You don't know me, Kai," She shot him down, "You just stalked me."

"Off-topic," He pouted, "Let's talk about the home city you also kept away from me."

"New Orleans," She smiled wistfully, "Beautiful place. Full of art and music, and the supernatural – and, the best bit?"

He perked up.

"A near indestructible vampire-werewolf hybrid who will kill you if you step foot in it."

He rolled his eyes, losing the excitement.

She giggled slightly, "They have a wolf pack, a vampire community, and a bunch of covens."

"But you're not gonna be accepted into those."

"Actually," MJ lifted up her wrist to show the charm bracelet, "One of these is a coven stone."

A coven stone, some brass leaves she'd made herself, then the four silver charms from Kol; three birds, one fox.

"I'm technically the last living elder of The French Quarter Coven."

Something in his mind latched on to that information, "You're an elder?"

"Yep."

"...Good to know."

Bad.

Very bad.

MJ had felt settled, but now he was happy about something.

"Why?"

"It's just good to know," His 'innocent' face drove her mad.

MJ couldn't read him, which only added to the layers of stress forming.

"How does it work when they can't channel you," He shuffled closer, like a dog scratching his butt on the floor, "They can channel me – but I read that Floare Siphons can't be channelled. Did the Gemini get that wrong?"

"They got it right."

He slowly offered her his hand, "Unless it's with a siphoner."

She stared at it.

"Come on, Ruiz," He wiggled his fingers, "You know you want to."

She did.

She hated that she did.

"None of this is real, Kai," MJ shook her head, "I can channel anyone in here."

"Then," He dropped it back to his side, "When we wake up, and I win, I'll show you what real connection with another witch is."

Her eyes were fixed on his face.

"I'll show you why you'll always matter to me, MJ," He looped back to the question he'd dodged earlier, "Why I know your name."

She pushed back in her chair, unable to stay still with his unblinking and invasive eyes on her.

"Don't tell me you're scared to try?"

"You can channel witches," She dodged, "That doesn't make me special to you; it makes you special to me."

"And maybe that's all I've needed this whole time."

MJ exhaled slowly.

"Someone to be special too."

He was trying to play her, and she knew it.

Kai boasted about not having feelings, so why would it matter if anyone cared about him or not.

Except MJ had already made it clear that she didn't believe he was actually a sociopath.

"If I'd been alone for nineteen years," She forced her shoulders to untense, "I'd tell myself I didn't care too."

His face became sour, "Stop trying to do that."

"Telling you that I see you?"

It's what he'd supposedly been trying to tell her through actual torture.

"Because I do," MJ brushed her hair behind her ears, "Because, if you decide not to murder your entire coven – if walk away right now, rewrite your history, and start a new life, I would let you."

"But I don't wanna walk away," He lent back, hands propping him up, "I want to rule – and, you know what, I deserve to."

"Deserve?"

"I was always better at magic than the rest of them," He asserted, "I learnt spells quicker. I could do more. I was just born different, so I wasn't even allowed to try."

MJ picked at her fingernails, a habit she rarely partook in.

It was usually a sign she'd siphoned dark magic.

Now, it was just a sign she was worried.

Questions.

She needed to keep him away from topics that might land him in the Katherine and Klaus pit of sympathy – she couldn't let him end up there. MJ couldn't do that to herself and Bonnie. But she still had so many questions about his life.

"Dark magic," She picked a point, "I can't siphon it without getting sick."

Excluding the immunity the prison world had given her.

"Like badly sick. You have that problem?"

"I feel a bit woozy," He admitted, "Not sick, though. More, I won't eat breakfast that morning kinda thing."

She nodded.

"I've never really had the chance to siphon that much dark magic. Unless the Traveller spell counts?"

"Vampires count," She pinched her cheeks for a second, "Them and wolves."

"Embarrassing fact," He looked down like a nervous schoolgirl, "I didn't know werewolves were a thing, but you kept mentioning them, and I didn't want to seem like an idiot by asking."

She blinked at the prospect of that.

MJ had lowkey forgotten that wolves were rare considering how many she knew.

He was staring at her intently – no, curiously.

She got the same look when she wanted to know things but wasn't sure where she could learn the answers.

"They went into hiding for a really long time," MJ felt the words flow out, "Vampires got too murderous, and they had to hide to stay alive."

"And that worked?"

She nodded, "A lot of people never trigger the curse, and some people are very 'lone wolf' about it."

However.

"I've run into two quite big packs over the years."

The Malraux Los Angeles Wolves, and the New Orleans ones.

There had been wolves in New York, but they called themselves a faction, not a pack, a high turnover rate. People constantly moving and such.

"Just how specific can you get with siphoning?" Her next question, "Because I had to really work to learn the different levels."

He pulled a face, "I just take and use."

"If you knew about different levels, you might've realised your easy way out of the Prison World sooner."

Kai tapped his shoes, "Funny thing that."

"Funny that you missed it?"

"You were planning on rescuing Bonnie."

"I'm still going to rescue Bonnie."

"Fun life goal," He nodded fakely, "Once Bonnie was out, what was going to stop me just siphoning myself free?"

"I had a spell," MJ revealed, "A way to mess with the magic, so it became a proper enchanted object. A closed system, rather than a representational anchor."

"So the magic would never run out..."

"Exactly."

"Smart," He smiled, "Why would you tell me that?"

"You're out," She gestured to him, "I don't need it anymore."

His false confidence faltered.

"And it's not like it can be used against me. I wrote a reverse too."

"...And you're not going to put me back in?"

"How would I do that?" She wasn't a Bennett or a Gemini.

Another silence.

"Why would I?"

"Because I cut your spleen out?"

"Hm," She inhaled slowly, "At the end of the day..."

A million different emotions were arguing about the idea.

"I've been having panic attacks when things get quiet."

Something in his face changed.

"I have them in my sleep too – but that's because of you. The silence thing...that's all The Prison World."

He scooted back a little.

"There's nothing you could do that would have me put you back in there."

"Murdering children?"

"Why punish you with something that would make you worse? Drive you more insane? Mitigate the problem instead of actually dealing with it."

The same way Klaus and Elijah daggered Kol rather than address why he did the things that got him daggered.

"My dad would hate you."

"He'd hate me regardless," MJ shrugged, "You touch a child in front of me, and you're dead."

MJ didn't think she could cause another dead body for a while, but she could freeze him and let Kol do it.

"But I'm never gonna put someone in a Prison World."

There was something different behind Kai's eyes, and MJ couldn't tell if it was a genuine appreciation for her or the same obsessiveness as before.

It was something to try and understand at a later date.

Then it vanished.

The way everything genuine did with Kai. Because he'd rather hide it beneath the sociopathy than address it too.

~***~

Stefan's phone call had been a call for help. Caroline had fed her mother blood, thinking it would cure her cancer; Kol somewhat intrigued by the experiment. It had cured the test subject to death, and now he had 'stage ten' cancer...whatever that meant.

Again, Kol was looking at his phone screen.

Apparently, cancer had actually been around for thousands of years prior to his birth...

His excuse was that he'd been raised a witch in Viking Times.

His family hadn't actually known much about the world until they'd fled their father. Beyond having to rely on a man-servant to keep their cover when they'd first arrived in France, they'd met Marceline Roux there. To MJ, she was the vampire queen of New York, but when the Mikaelson's had first met her, she'd been a Middle Eastern Princess. One who was utterly disgusted by Europe's lack of what she dubbed 'real science,' happily telling them about several things they'd never heard of before.

The internet told him that the disease had also become 'a big thing' again in the 18th and 20th Centuries.

He'd been daggered most of those two centuries. That was the reason Kol didn't know much about it. Not his complete disinterest in the things that kill off humanity. Not at all.

Jeremy's science lessons hadn't caught him up as much as he'd previously thought...

The announcement had gotten Damon out of the apartment, allowing Kol to relax.

The other reason Kol was reading about cancer?

He still couldn't work out how on earth Ryos Jung had found a way to counter siphoning.

Where did he even start!?

Googling cancer wasn't really easy either.

863 000 000 results for the word.

1 249 000 000 for 'cancer cure.'

30 600 000 for 'magic that cures cancer.'

He'd known looking that up would've been a stretch, but he'd heard Katherine and MJ talking about the magical 'dark web' when he'd been a ghost, and he knew 'MiMiPasare' was dubbed as the magical internet.

Googling 'the dark web' produced 2 820 000 000 results.

Kol tossed his phone away.

He didn't need the internet.

He was the master of figuring things out by himself and having his own back – he was Kol Mikaelson!

He should be focusing on making Kai powerless.

But he'd torn up half of the notebook he'd brought with him trying to do that, and it was Caroline.

Kol couldn't cure cancer, but the vampire blood problem?

The magic in her mother was the problem.

Facts:

-          Vampire blood contains magic
-          Dark magic.

Kol shoved back to his feet, needing the ingredient box.

The second he took a step, he groaned, vision caving in like it might go black.

Screw mortality and headrushes.

A few blinks later, and a long breath in, and he was fine, picking his phone back up, and walking to the kitchen.

Kol cut himself a piece of bread while calling Caroline's number.

The phone itself was a new number, so he didn't have to worry about hers revealing his identity, and he might have something to help.

Voicemail.

"You need to get the magic out of her system," He didn't waste time, "There's a potion I can make – call me back."

He dialled again.

Still nothing.

A third time.

Nothing but an answering message in her perky voice.

A text

-          Listen to the voicemail

-          I think I know a way to help your mother.

That was all Kol could do, wasn't it?

He put the phone on the counter and stepped back.

...Kai and MJ.

Caroline and her dying mother.

He found some strawberry jam in the fridge and added it to the bread for a sugar rush.

He'd done all he could...

It wasn't his problem.

He didn't care about Mystic Fall's dilemmas!

And yet, Kol sighed, clicking on Stefan Salvatore's contact.

"Hi," Stefan sounded almost nervous, "Is MJ okay?"

"Perfectly," Kol was too tired to be jealous, "Why isn't Caroline answering her phone?"

"Um...well – "

"Sometime today?"

"She's missing," Stefan's feet could be heard walking on his end, "We're trying to find her."

"Oh."

"I know you're probably drained, but can you track her for us?"

"I'll see what MJ has in her box of materials."

"Thank you," He exhaled in relief, "Why are you looking for her?"

Kol almost felt offended by the question, "I was thinking about loopholes to her current predicament."

"And you found a solution?"

"You need to deactivate the magic?"

"Like, wake MJ up so she can siphon it?"

"Maybe," Kol didn't want MJ to have to be the solution, "Or a concoction of herbs that deactivate magic."

Stefan's steps paused.

"A disruption spell simply pauses it for however long the caster can hold it," His attempt with Finn's barrier, "If she drinks it, it should remove the risk."

"I'll tell her," Stefan sounded like a man on a mission, Kol rolling his eyes, imaging how he was probably activating his hero hair, "Then we'll come grab that off you?"

"I need to find her first," Kol felt pins and needles in his toes, "Then make it, but yes. If I don't pass out first, that would be the plan."

"...Can I get you anything?"

"Not particularly," He was overexerting himself, and the only cure to that was sleep, "I shall text you an address if I find one."

The call was over, and Kol's next task was working out MJ's system.

Yellow for the eyes of a hybrid, wolf blood marked by green washi tape, rare vials of human blood with a strip of white belonging to Matt and preserved from Elena's human days. There were also her 'Jeremy '/Hunter ones (black with tiny black skulls – something Kol didn't understand) and her Ric top-ups (vampire ones simply grey, human ones grey and white).

Kol had been a rosy-gold colour that sparkled, but he hadn't seen that vial anywhere, so assumed she'd used it at some point.

Grey meant Ric, though, not vampire, which left light blue to mean vampire?

It was the only thing left, so it had to be.

One vial with light blue tape, the initials C.F. lightly traced in one corner.

"Bingo," He pulled it out of the wooden box MJ had on her bedside table, moving to the desk to strip search for a map.

Kol was making a bit of a mess, but someone was missing, and there was a sociopath asleep in the living room – he doubted anyone would call him on it. And he'd tidy it up once his magic was back in order...maybe. MJ would probably be the one to flick it all back into place when she woke up.

Focus.

Honestly, his flickering attention span wasn't even because of his normal fast-thinking. It was because every action felt aching, eyes dry. His instinct wanted him to tune the mess out, and sit with MJ, and watch the charm bracelet for any sign that the magic was starting to go haywire inside of her.

But he couldn't.

He hated it, and he wanted to, but every time he let himself still, the freaking guilt kicked back in, and he could only think about how awful Caroline probably felt.

Kol, once again, was asking his returned humanity to leave him alone.

But it wasn't going to.

He'd managed to avoid it for however many centuries, and now it was determined to remind him it was there.

Map!

It had been stuffed in a spot behind the desk and the back wall.

"Now...the kitchen," He was fine; he was awake; he could perform a simple tracking spell.

The map was on the counter, a candle in each corner, Kol passing the vail back and forth in his hands, eyes closed as he chanted.

"Faire Á Voir Là Ré," He picked a New Orleans spell, hoping he could pull on some extra spirit strength from it, "Faire Á Voir Là Ré."

It was like someone was poking his temple.

"Faire Á Voir Là Ré."

The lid on the vail was pulled out.

"Faire Á Voir Là Ré."

The poking got firmer, Kol gritting his teeth.

"Faire Á Voir Là Ré."

Caroline better sing his praises.

He was meant to be the king of putting himself first, and he was meant to be looking after MJ, and he was actually starting to feel sick!

They all better sing his goddamn praises once it was over.

"Faire Á Voir Là Ré," He poured the blood onto the sheet, "Faire Á Voir Là Ré."

The candles flared even higher, Kol rushing his hands to the cool marble top to steady himself.

"Faire Á Voir Là Ré."

There was a hissing noise as a trail settled before him, puddled outside a flower shop pretty close to the hospital.

He texted the location to Stefan, then he let himself hunch over.

"I hate this town."

And they weren't even in Mystic Falls.

And he still needed to make the mixture that might cause the magic to switch off.

Was that how Ryos did it?

Somehow installed a failsafe in his spells that deactivated the magic whenever someone tried to siphon it?

He flicked his wrist in the hope of summoning his notebook to him, willing to jot that down and come back to it, but the action just made him woozier.

The potion.

Making a potion wouldn't drain him.

Enchanting it would, but only minorly, herbs doing most of the work.

Kol took another bite of his jam covered bread, grabbing the mixing glasses from MJ's room, getting to work around the counter.

He set up a Bunsen burner under a stand, resting a dish he filled with basil oil on it before setting up an even taller one so the fumes would heat the rest of the mixture. It would create a base that would banish negative energy and encourage long life. Three strips of fennel were the first things dropped into the beaker, followed by thirteen rosemary petals, liquid vervain, and five blades of vetiver.

Then...the part that had him sighing.

Three candles, lit with a match this time, the water and vervain starting to bubble.

"Dinti Tu Mwen La Bois."

Most disruption spells had been created because of dark objects, which meant he was back in Louisianan Creole French. 

"Dinti Tu Mwen La Bois, S'en Fin Donne Mu La Bois," He could feel his body leaking power, "Dinti Tu Mwen La Bois, Doce Mozore Un Frantue Ble Mu La Bois."

Not just power, but blood, coming from his nose and his ears.

"Dinti Tu Mwen La Bois."

A rush of air up, and the candles went out.

He could relax.

Kol winced as he pressed one hand to his forehead, checking his temperature, the other to his ears, trying to wipe them clear, just staining his own skin red.

He needed a tissue.

Before he could grab one, he jumped, the door to the apartment swinging open.

"Damn," Tyler was staring at him through the doorway "You – "

"I need sleep," His voice was hoarse.

"You don't say," Tyler frowned, "Dude – "

"Watch her," He stumbled towards the sofa, pinching his nose and pretending the room wasn't blurry around her, "I just need an hour – "

"Course," He was probably the best person to have arrived, "You want a bed?"

"I'll – I'll – " The way his head seemed to sway only made the migraine worse, "Blood."

"What?"

"That," He snapped his hand towards the back corridor, "MJ's room."

"Vamp blood," Tyler clicked, "On it."

It was only a few seconds, Tyler taking the non-human vile he found and tossing it to him, but it felt like an hour, leaving Kol to wish he'd used it soon. 

He did have a reason.

If he died in Kaleb's body, now that his mother was down, he wouldn't automatically jump to a new form, and Kol wasn't actually sure his spirit would be left in the body if it died. He could get booted, the real Kabel Westfall waking up with fangs in his mouth.

Death was a way to kick someone out of a body.

But still, no one was about to kill him when he was 'MJ's Witch Boyfriend,' so he should've just risked it.

"You better now?"

"Peachy," Kol groaned, pressing further into the cushions and closing his eyes, "It'll take a moment."

"Then go to bed."

Silence.

"Dude – "

"But MJ – "

"Is clearly rubbing off on you," Tyler called out, "Her sleep schedule only works for her – and it doesn't even work for her."

Kol didn't really have much of a choice.

"I've got it."

But there was something in his head, "...Why are you here?"

"Just," Tyler stepped back, "Checking in."

Kol knew a liar when he saw one, but what reason would Tyler have to lie?

He was her best friend.

He was the safest option when it came to letting someone else play guard, despite Kol's earlier list of 'reasons why no one here is trustworthy.'

"Liv's got something with her dad," He added, "And I got worried."

"...Okay."

The point of the trip was to win points with MJ's Mystic Falls life. Kol wasn't sure how he was doing with Ric, but Tyler and Caroline were the people who really mattered. And Tyler was the one with the Mikaelson damage. Kol couldn't seem like a paranoid mess of overprotection, or he'd think Kol was as obsessive as he'd been the first week he'd met MJ.

Tyler had no reason to lie.

Kol slowly pushed up, almost toppling right back over, letting Tyler hold him up and practically drag him to MJ's room.

The blood would heal him physically but in terms of magic?

He needed a nap.

He didn't know Tyler was planning to wake Kai up co he could go after Jo and complete The Merge before Joshua Parker made Luke and Liv do it. He also didn't know Damon Salvatore was about to arrive with a very similar plan, needing a siphoner for Liz and not having been updated on the potion plan.

Damon might not have known about that plan, but he did know something else.

He wasn't a witch, so the only way he could get a siphoner on their feet was to make MJ too weak to hold her Chambre De Chasse together. And the only way to weaken her would be to hurt her. And if he hurt her, she'd need time to heal before she could heal Liz, meaning his only option was Kai, and he'd happily knock out Tyler to get him.

~***~

"Why are you scared of being channelled," Kai went back to his earlier point, "Don't you wanna finally feel like a real witch?"

"I am a real witch."

"You're a witch with an emptiness inside that can never be filled," His eyes felt hollow, "No matter how much magic you take. It'll never be enough to get rid of it."

Then he blinked.

"Channelling will make it better," He was back to being bouncy, "Doesn't that just look like the prettiest hand in the playground?"

He was waving it in her face.

"Don't you just wanna grab it and take it for a spin."

She tried not to laugh at the ridiculous phrasing.

"I won't tell," He bent it like it was a sock puppet talking to her, "No one will ever have to know you dipped your toe into the dark waters."

"Not interesting in your 'dark waters.'"

"You don't need to be scared of being channelled, MJ."

"That's not what I'm scared of," She countered, "I have a very fun list, and being channelled isn't on it."

"You have a list?"

"Everyone has a list of things that scare them," MJ shrugged, "Being in a Prison World is on yours."

"And yours?"

She really thought through what she was doing.

"Open up, MJ," He softened his features again, "Be brave."

"Be stupid."

"Same difference."

"Suffocation."

He stopped fidgeting like a five-year-old, "Oh."

"...I have a history of being trapped in small spaces during traumatic events."

Kai might've been MJ's only chance to truly know a siphoner, so she was honest.

"I've been working around claustrophobia for years because of it, but," She looped her finger through her necklace and tugged, "It always comes out in a panic attack where I feel like soil's clogging my throat."

He came closer again, "Soil?"

"I was buried alive."

The words felt more foreign every time she said them.

"You want to know what true fear is? Wake up, no idea where you are, unable to see or breath, slowly realising you've been buried alive with basically no way out."

His eyes dropped.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get over it," She felt like she could say it because she was in her headspace, "The moment I skip a breath? I'm on edge for the rest of the day, sometimes longer, and I honestly think my worst fear is going through it again."

"I..."

She waited for him to use it against her.

To turn it into a joke, or a mocking comment, or something Kai-like.

"I get the small spaces thing."

She hadn't expected him to say that.

"The fear of being trapped," He pulled his legs up slightly, "It's not pure panic anymore. I've spent nearly half my life being confronted by it – but smaller spaces are different."

She agreed.

"They still feel too dark, and that just doesn't end well with me."

They were staring at each other.

"The only way to get over a fear is to confront it," He slipped back into casual, not looking away, "But you already know that."

There was a sigh in his tone.

"Because that's what the real problem is."

"Huh?"

"You're not scared of being channelled; you're scared of me."

"You don't say."

Silence.

An awful silence.

A silence where MJ could feel his hate dripping into the air as he stood up and returned to the opposite seat.

The sudden shift made her almost doubt herself.

Had Kai genuinely been trying to make a connection?

Had she just screwed it all up?

"You tried to stick a mop through me yesterday," She reminded him, "You cut out an organ, chased me bleeding through a house, and mentally tortured me, Kai – how the hell am I supposed to feel about you?"

"I don't know!"

MJ paused at the outburst.

"I didn't get the people skills lessons you did. I just got taught 'kill or be killed' – because that's all The Merge is! That's the Gemini Coven stripped to his basics!"

There was a metallic taste on MJ's tongue.

"And you know what," He spat, "I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to help you!"

"You tortured me!"

"I gave you a chance to rebuild!" He was pleading, "I'm set you up to hate me, so you didn't have to hate yourself – sacrificing my chance to not be alone – to have you actually like me – so you can get better!"

MJ swayed slightly.

"I thought you'd be – what the hell?"

MJ didn't understand Kai's sudden cut-off, his eyes pinned on her arms.

"Why are you bleeding?"

Her eyes flashed down, realising the taste in her mouth had been a warning.

Three large cuts appeared on both her forearms, spewing onto the train floor.

"...Seems like someone's coming to rescue me."

There was a ding sound from the announcement system.

"I'll give you multiple choices," Damon's voice, "A, I'm an idiot, B, I have anger issues, and I'm a puny human now."

If he was talking to Kol like that, having somehow found out the truth, MJ was going to murder him.

"So I have to pick on people while they sleep. C, A and B are both correct."

"Liv's dad's in town," Tyler.

"No."

"Yes," Kai grinned at the ceiling.

Where the hell was Kol?

There was a collection of undistinguishable grumbles, replicating how impossible it was to actually understand New York conductors, only clearing up for Damon to say,

"I could kiss you right now, you beautiful moron."

"You have got to be kidding me!" She yelled.

Kai just let himself laugh.

"I might actually kill him."

"Not if I kill you first," He taunted, "I'll wake up while you're bleeding and smother-able."

Her entire body tensed, rising to her feet.

Damon.

She was going to throttle him.

She wasn't going to live to throttle him.

"I've been sitting here Googling celestial events, and I was just curious: Would a Mercury-Venus conjunction give you enough juice to do a little Gemini Merge party?"

"It would," Kai answered, pointing to the ceiling as the rising sun of their scene started to set.

The dizziness was clouding MJ's mind, forcing her to use the carriage wall to stand.

She couldn't let Kai out.

Jo wasn't ready.

"Oh, don't panic," Kai used her weakened state to take her hand, spinning her like they were in a dance, "I'm not actually going to kill you."

She had no control, everything blurring white.

"I know there's still hope for us," He lightly kissed her forehead as MJ lost all her strength, "You've shown that you feel the pull too."

He moved forward like he'd been attempting to dip her, actually using the movement to half drop her to the floor, limp.

"I'll see you on the flip side, elder to The French Quarter Coven."

"Your formerly comatose son is gonna be on the loose and hell-bent on beating you to the punch."

And the magic holding Kai in collapsed.

~***~

Kol was woken up by a crash. An untriggered werewolf in the living room, stumbling about as he tried to return to his feet. According to his watch, he'd only been out for about an hour, and Kol was physically better but still magically drained.

He'd make it work.

"What are you – "

His insult to the dazed Tyler was cut off.

The hospital bed was empty.

And the sofa was covered in blood.

"MJ!" He sprinted to it, shaking her sides, trying to remind himself that she couldn't die with the magic in her, "Mira, I swear if you don't wake – "

She groaned, rolling to the side to inspect her arms, "I'm going to murder him."

Three thick cuts on both her forearms, skin practically painted red, stains all over the sofa.

"I genuinely am."

His arms went under her shoulder to pull her up, "What – "

Then, Kol screamed.

MJ jolted, tumbling off the sofa, panic all over her face, looking in every direction like she didn't realise he was the source of the sound, clinging to the sofa himself. Every point of contact had been used to siphon him, head right back to feeling like someone was beating it with a drum.

"Mira," He stumbled, wincing, but determined to seem okay, "What happened?"

"Damon," Tyler growled, still crouched down on the floor, "Stabbed me with some drug."

Because he'd been in the hospital for most of the day.

"I'm going to murder him," MJ shoved to her feet, joining them in 'almost falling over land,' "But – but I – "

"Mira," Kol tried to catch her, only to end up crying out and flinching back all over again.

Her magic was trying to heal her by taking whatever it could, the cuts long and deep, and exactly the right direction to catch a vein. It wasn't simply bleeding, but something meant to damage her – because that was the only way to break the spell without magic. She needed to be hurt in a way that would keep the magic busy but slow.

"MJ – "

"It's not even been a day," Her voice was distant, feet catching on the wood as she moved towards the door, "He couldn't even go a day!"

"MJ," Tyler's turn to try and catch her attention, "Liv's dad's in town."

It was like she was in a trance, a million miles from them.

"She's still under the spell," Kol realised, "She's awake, but I cast a sleep preservation – MJ!"

They couldn't let her leave.

"Listen to me!"

She opened the door with the flick of a wrist, rubbing the damp blood on her healing arms down her face like she was trying to brush away a headache.

"Tyler – " Kol didn't even have to finish the thought as her best friend jumped her, tackling MJ to the floor.

He was blasted into the apartment ceiling, MJ's eyes flickering between orange, brown, and white.

Kol froze.

White was new.

MJ had said that blue meant she was overloaded – did white mean under?

If she was magic low, they were all about to have a massive problem.

"Mira," Kol couldn't touch her without risking even more magic and actual death, but he could try something else, "Mente."

His hand was up, targeted at her in a way he'd never thought he'd have to as Tyler groaned back up.

She was shaking under the hold.

Yep. Definitely magic low.

It never would've worked on her if she was at her usual level of power.

Kol tried to tighten his hold, "Mente."

Shaking meant she was fighting it.

The only problem?

MJ's trembling fingers sparked orange, and she vanished.

"Shit," Tyler looked at him.

Kol's expression screamed murder, "What the hell happened?"

The panting sound of his voice only added to the explosion building in his stomach.

"Damon – "

"Yes, I got that bit!" His question was somewhat rhetorical, "How long was she bleeding!?"

Tyler looked at his own watch, "Damon started right before he knocked me out.

"So, how long?"

"Around fifty minutes."

His entire demeanour changed.

"What?" Tyler shook his head in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"We need to find her," Kol winced at the prospect of moving, "Now."

"Kol?"

"It takes five minutes to bleed a person out."

"So times that by ten..."

"The magic that's keeping her alive is going to be on its last legs."

The cuts had only closed because she'd actually been woken up, implying that MJ had been lying like that, in a state of trapped sleep, magic the only thing sustaining her, for nearly an hour.

"I thought you cast a spell to stop this type of stuff!"

"I cast a spell to stop magical interference! I didn't expect someone to take a knife to her major arteries!"

Tyler knew it wasn't actually his fault, "What do you mean by sleep preservation?"

"The drink I gave her locked her in a state of preserved sleep."

"And that's still intact?"

"It's why it didn't seem like she could hear us."

"She's still asleep?"

"Half."

"And she's lost most of the blood in her body about ten times over?"

Kol's nod was tight, an incredibly fake smile plastered on his face, created by how firmly he was biting into his lips to stop himself from screaming and smashing up every bit of furniture in the room.

"Fuck."

~***~

She couldn't let Jo die.

That was the thought in MJ's head as she moved through the streets of Whitmore like a zombie.

She couldn't let Ric or Tyler lose anyone else, and it was Jo!

She was lovely, and kind, and caring – and MJ knew how Mystic Falls ruined people liked that.

She walked, rubbing her palms together and chanting.

The world kept flashing in and out of focus, but MJ had to keep going. The connection set up for the Chambre to work meant she and Kai were momentarily linked, and the link was still there. She could track him. The spell hadn't completely collapsed, it was still affecting her mind, dragging her down, and it was giving her a way to track the person who should've been her mental prisoner.

There was no way she could fight him while it felt like she'd been chugging tequila, but she didn't need to fight him; she just needed to keep him occupied.

MJ wanted to kill everyone.

EVERYONE.

Not Kol.

But she did want to know where the hell he was.

She'd felt the preservation spell enter her system, and she'd momentarily heard his Kaleb voice in the back of her mind, so she knew he was there, but she didn't have a clue where.

He'd probably been dragged into some Mystic Falls mess, giving her even more reason to murder everyone.

He should've been left alone to look after her.

That was literally why he'd come to town!

Not to become their momentary witchy solution to everything!

The mental link led her to the centre of the park on the College Campus, her vision clearing up slightly during the walk, blurry because of blood loss, not a sleep state.

"Look at those pretty planets," Kai's voice, "All twinkly and bright."

MJ tried not to let the sound of him throw her.

!Oh, Josette, you would not believe how sick I am of eclipses."

"Let's just get this over with," Jo yanked her arm out of his hold.

"No, no," He lilted, "We need another guest who should be arriving, right about..."

He turned and pointed at her.

"Now."

MJ froze.

"Happy to see you up and about, MJ," Kai motioned for her to come forward, "Leaving your body there felt a little cruel considering I'd need your help."

"MJ!" Jo was mouthing for her to run.

She was telling her to let it happen, and get away, and staring at the amount of blood covering her.

The cuts had healed, but the proof of what should've been inside her body was still pretty damp.

To make it worse, MJ didn't even need to look at the mess soaking into her clothes. She could feel it missing from her inside without the visual cue. Fuck the visual clue. Fuck Mystic Falls, and Damon Salvatore, and Joshua Parker, because she'd heard his name get mentioned as part of why everything was happening.

"Whatever he needs from you – "

"Shh, shh," Kai grabbed Jo's face to make her look at him, "If you want this over, you need her here too."

They both shared a panicked look.

"Oh, did you forget some of daddy dearest's details over the years," Kai boasted, "One, a Celestial Event."

He released her to point to the sky.

"Two, Gemini Twins," He spun a finger back and forth between them, "And three, the officialization process."

Jo wasn't following, but MJ finally clicked the slip-up she'd made.

"No," She protested, determined to keep her breathing even, "It wouldn't count! I'm not a Gemini Elder."

"The rules aren't that specific," Kai grinned, "There's this little nick-nack we're supposed to use too, to let all the Gemini worker bees know it's happened and link them to me, but I can activate it after."

She backed up, "No."

"You have a desperate need to try and save people," His hand up and holding her there, "I knew you'd come after us."

It turned to a first, telekinetically dragging her forward.

"You helped kill her boyfriend's last girlfriend," Kai reminded her, "Who says history doesn't repeat itself?"

"No!" MJ managed to force herself free, but when she tried to cloak herself or teleport, she just fell to her knees, too weak, "I won't do it!"

Jo was by her side, "Let her go – she's nothing to do with this!"

"She's an elder," Kai explained gleefully, "She has everything to do with this now."

"Please," MJ shook her head as the woman helped her up, "Please, Jo. Run."

Jo gently got her back to a seated position on the ground, carefully looking back and forth between the pair.

"It's okay, MJ," She assured her, "It'll be okay."

"No, it – " MJ twisted her hand to try and light Kai on fire or knock him out – or anything.

Nothing but a tiny breeze responded.

She was completely drained.

She'd been holding a mental prison together for a day, and she'd lost most of her blood. She was the weakest she'd been in a long time. When he'd cut her spleen out, she'd still had the magic for a fight – but she didn't even have that anymore.

"I'm starting to get a little sick of how you treat me, Ruiz," He was trying to ruin her last name, "Maybe you need a lesson."

Kai grabbed her shoulder, siphoning her fleeting strength, a searing pain shooting through her body until she was writhing on the floor.

"If I win, your life is better!" He made it stronger, pain overriding her ability to talk, on the ground and reaching out for any strength to stop him, "All you have to do is complete the circle."

Jo tried to shove him, "Stop it!"

Blood poured from MJ's arms again as the cuts reopened, skin tightening.

"Kai!" Jo finally caused a blast, making Kai smile, "I'll do the merge!"

"I know you will," He ran a nail up MJ's jaw, "But I need her too weak to run."

The only thing she could feel was shooting pins stabbing into every pore of her skin until she was sobbing, the taste of sick and metal in her mouth driving her senses wild, flashes of too bright colour made it feel like she was about to have a fit. Shades of bright white everywhere.

Then it stopped.

"There we go," Kai stood back up and faced his sister, "We need any senior ranked witch to oversee the procedure. Hold our hands and whatnot. Usually, it's the previous leader, but an elder should work."

Jo was shaking in fear as she stared at MJ's half-dead body.

"If only she hadn't wasted all that power trying to keep me down," He tapped her cheek with his foot, "If only the plan had been stuck too – but from what I've gathered, they rarely ever stick to her plans so, she shouldn't be surprised."

MJ whimpered, and he lifted his foot away.

"Now," Kai pulled out a knife and cut his hand open, "If you think I didn't spend the last eighteen years in solitary thinking about how you screwed me over the last time, you're wrong."

Jo was still looking at MJ, not him.

"So if this is just another setup, I'll rip out more than a spleen," He twirled the knife, "Like a tongue...or a heart."

Jo swallowed.

"So, any closing remarks?"

"You're a parasite," She spat, "You killed the people I loved. You shoved a hunting knife in my gut. And, you destroyed my life."

She held her hand out for him.

"Now I'm gonna destroy yours."

Kai's expression went dark as he sliced the blade across her skin.

Then he picked up one of MJ's hands, pulling her to an upright sitting position and watching how she shook from the contact – and the cold. The blood was like water, freezing her bones in the winter breeze.

"I guess we'll see," He motioned for Jo to do the same, the pair of them kneeling on the ground, "Won't we?"

Jo took her other hand and squeezed it tight.

"Sanguinem Desimilus," Their joined hands were the bloody ones, "Sanguinem Generis Fiantus."

Winds started to pick up as their eyes closed.

"Sanguinem Desimilus, Sanguinem Generis Fiantus – "

Jo fainted, Kai's eyes wide, clearly not the culprit.

"Wha – " MJ couldn't finish a sentence, desperately rubbing at the park grass for anything she could draw on without passing out in the process, "Jo, but, I – "

Luke appeared down the path, marching straight towards them, a dark grey coat, hands in his pockets, and a steely look in his eyes as he took the scene in.

Kai stood back up to glare at him, "What the hell did you just do?"

"Oh," Luke oozed confidence, something MJ didn't trust, "I just gave my big sister a little magic knock on the head."

He glanced at her body,

"She'll be fine," He came to a standstill directly in front of Kai, "Because you're gonna merge with me."

Kai looked at MJ, then at Luke.

Then he started laughing at the suggestion.

Luke didn't break.

He stayed in his spot, daring his brother to question it.

"You wanna merge with me?" Kai patted him on the cheek, only to be swatted away, "I hate to break it to you, little brother, but we're not twins."

His voice lost any amusement as he snapped his fingers to try and wake Jo up.

"That's not how this is supposed to work."

"True," Luke was the one to pull MJ to her feet, "But we share the same parents, the same bloodline and thanks to your timeout in the magic penalty box, we're the same age."

Magic liked to be specific, but MJ was living proof that loopholes worked, and it made sense.

"Luke," She stammered out, "What if – I – "

Her brain wasn't working.

"She counts as an elder, great," He pulled a dial out of his pocket, "And I nicked this off dad at dinner."

A device that would tie the Gemini Coven to whoever won.

"It's definitely a Hail Mary, and maybe it won't work. But I'd do anything to save my sister's life, so," He summoned the knife from Kai and cut his own hand, "We're gonna give it the old college try."

MJ almost managed a laugh at the phrasing.

"Thanks, but I'm gonna pass," Kai turned.

"Phasmatos Motus Robix," Luke summoned Kai's face to his hand, "What's wrong?"

MJ really started to think through the options.

"Are you afraid to play chicken with someone who might actually beat you?"

For a moment, Kai almost seemed nervous, and MJ couldn't act like she didn't like the look on him.

Luke had conviction, he was fighting for his family, and he wasn't weak.

He had twenty-two years worth of training.

Kai shoved him back, "Fine."

They both took one of her hands, then each other's, the leaders dial in between their bleeding palms.

"It's your funeral."

"I won't – " MJ wanted nothing to do with any of it, "I'm not – "

"You're too weak to do anything, MJ," Kai reminded her, "You trusted your friends, and they made you weak."

There was a double meaning to the sentence, and she hated it.

"This is your only way out."

If Kai and Jo merged, Jo would die; if Luke and Liv merged, Liv would die.

Loose-loose was what Kai called it, and he was right.

Either Ric was hurt, or Tyler was, and they were presenting her with the chance to have a win-win.

Luke had screwed up the destruction of The Other Side by not listening to her.

He'd been the most outwardly rude out of everyone.

He'd called her every name in the book and wished her dead first.

No.

MJ couldn't let herself think like that.

He was still Liv and Jo's brother, and he still had his own life – but it was the Gemini coven!

They'd been born to merge, and that wasn't her fault. Their coven created their situation.

No.

"You don't have a choice, MJ," Luke's hold on her tightened, "We're doing this."

He could win.

"Don't make me," Her voice was a whisper, "I don't wanna do this type of stuff anymore."

Sacrificial rituals were going to be the end of her. She could feel it.

They both ignored the request, eyes closing, chanting kicking in.

"Please – "

"Sanguinem Desimilus."

She felt the power a lot more than when Jo and Kai had started.

"Sanguinem Generis Fiantus."

The wind started to pick up, and MJ felt like a switch in a circuit, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't turn off. She could only let the power pass through her, battling it out between the two sides. A bridge. A witch official. An elder of The French Quarter Coven, MIA for nearly seven months now, but still gifted with the ability to appoint a coven leader for her fellow witches.

"Sanguinem Desimilus," Their voices got louder to be heard, Jo starting to move, "Sanguinem Generis Fiantus."

Jo pushed up, rubbing her eyes and trying to work out what had happened.

"Sanguinem Desimilus."

"Luke!" She instantly panicked, "No."

"Sanguinem Generis Fiantus – " They kept going as Jo rushed up, trying to pull them appart, "Sanguinem Desimilus."

"NO."

"Sanguinem Generis Fiantus," Both of their eyes turned completely white, lighting up the night and charging even more energy into each other, "Sanguinem Desimilus."

MJ was crying blood.

She didn't know when she'd started, but she had, trying to yank free, hands seemingly stuck to theirs.

"Stop!" She begged, "Let me – I don't – "

" Sanguinem Desimilus," Kai and Luke were immovable objects, " Sanguinem Generis Fiantus."

Until everything stilled.

MJ stumbled back, panting and wiping at her eyes, legs trembling, watching as the pair collapsed.

"No," Jo was cradling his head, "Luke, come on. Luke – "

"Let me," MJ half fell to her knees too, a hand going onto his head, "Come on...wake up."

She couldn't feel anything.

She couldn't feel anything in the air.

She put her hands on his temple and started to chant, trying to heal him. As if that would make sure he was the body that survived.

The yellow light of magic was there for a second before spluttering out, MJ's gaze catching on the blood on her hands. Their blood. From the cuts at the start of the ceremony. Her own blood dripping into it, soaking the lines of her palm like a curse.

"No," MJ shook her head, "No, no, no."

She closed her eyes and tried again.

Weak light, unable to do anything other than cause cramps.

She completely keeled over, spluttering up dirt.

She hadn't even meant to tap into Floare magic to try and boost Luke's chances of winning, but that's what that was. She hadn't been buried, she hadn't tripped and landed fast first in a pile of mud.

The upchuck was part of her punishment, more hot tears streaming do her face.

"Can – " Jo was choking on her own ones, "Can you do – "

"No."

"MJ – "

"I can't do anything," She wanted to screech, "People just push and push, and I can't stop them."

Jo held her little brother tighter in her arms.

"Luke," She started moving her head as the tears fell, "Luke – wake up."

Damon crept forward, stepping on a branch and alerting the pair to his presence.

MJ saw red.

She lurched up, crashing straight back down and scrapping her elbow on the ground.

He breathed out, "You're both still alive."

MJ was fighting to get back to her feet.

"That's gonna save me a huge blowout with Ric when he gets back," Damon started inspecting Luke and Kai's bodies, "I am definitely coming into something late."

"Luke showed up, and he merged with Kai," Jo forced herself together to explain.

"Huh," Damon scrunched his nose, "So I guess adding the words 'twin merge' to my vocabulary was pointless."

MJ was panting like an animal, hunched over and shaking.

"They ain't twins."

"He's not supposed to be here," Jo was bawling, "The only reason he's here is because you let Kai out!"

"Well uh – "

"Luke," Jo was whispering, trying to find his pulse, "Wake up, Luke."

" – Let me give him some of my blood."

"It wouldn't help!" Jo glared, "It's up to them now."

MJ managed to sit properly, completely swaying.

The Merge had used her body as a vessel, draining her down and using a supernatural status she hadn't even interacted with recently to make her magic low even worse than before.

"Whoever wakes up is the winner," She mumbled out.

"You play your part then?" Damon stupidly knelt down to look over her face, "Kai said you'd – "

MJ lunged, scratching at his eyes.

"Hey, hey!" He easily dodged, "You're healed up!"

He motioned to her arms.

Physically, she was better. It was the magic-low holding her down like weights tugging her to the bottom of the ocean.

"I did what I had to, to save Liz."

MJ's entire body felt like it collapsed as she fell into him crying.

Liz.

Surprisingly enough, Damon let her stay there for a second, half carrying her back to her feet.

"I can't – I can't do this anymore."

"Please be talking about magic."

"Second-hand murder!" She spat the words out, trying to squirm out of his grip, "Killing someone."

He wasn't letting go, holding her tightly to stop her from hurting herself further by slamming into the floor.

"That – that awful act should be my choice! The blood on my hands should be something I control!" She quicked and punched out, "This – I – I need it to – I'm sick of this happening!"

No matter how hard she punched, he didn't let her go.

"I can't do this anymore!"

There were fundamental parts of life that she should've been in control of.

Kai had used her like a fiddle.

He'd fallen into the Klaus-Katherine hole, and he used her after pushing her to a point where her body physically couldn't have taken any more pain.

And it was all her fault.

There was a sharp breath in as Luke's eyes opened.

One was to make MJ still, every part of her at an odd angle, feet off the ground, Damon's arm's around her waist.

"Luke!" Jo gripped his shoulders, "Can you hear me?"

No response.

"Luke," Jo whispered, "Tell me you can hear me."

She tried to retake his pulse; now there was a chance it was actually there.

"Wake up, Luke," She couldn't find it, "Oh, my God."

MJ closed her eyes, a wave of nausea washing through her, limbs falling back to standing instead of 'fighting.'

"Woah, Woah," Damon responded, "Steady there, Sabrina."

Her eyes turned to gold as she blinked.

"Oh, my God. Luke," Jo buried her head into his chest, "He's gone."

MJ breathed out, the glow leaving her with it.

Officialisation that someone had died.

Damon let her step out of his hold...

"He saved me," Jo held him tighter, "And he's gone."

It was like she was trying to use love to bring him back to life, and MJ hated it.

She'd been in the same position too many times, and it made her want to destroy everything around her until she had nothing left to lose. And she hadn't even lost Luke! She shouldn't care about Luke. He was just a guy who was dead, and she was a woman sick of dead bodies.

Kai started to wake up, taking the sight in.

MJ cleared her throat.

She could feel the power flowing through his veins in the air.

"You win some, you lose some," He stood up, the biggest grin on his face, "Except for me."

MJ found herself backing up again.

"I always win."

She wanted to run.

She needed to run.

"Hey, hey," Kai's voice went soft as he took a creeping step towards her, "It's okay."

Damon shoved her behind his back.

Kai started to laugh, "The guy who bled her out now wants to keep her safe?"

"Because of the circumstances," Damon gritted his teeth, "Not because I wanted to."

"You got what you wanted," She stuttered out, "He's dead, you're in charge, now leave!"

"Or what?" He taunted, a hand coming up and pulling Damon to his knees, no siphoning required, "You'll make me?"

She breathed in.

She breathed out.

"Yes."

Silence.

"Then lucky for us both," His stature was more set.

He felt taller.

Taller, and stronger, and an even bigger threat to the lives of everyone she cared about.

"I'm going home."

One finger snaps, and he vanished into the night.

The three of them were alone with Luke's dead body, his eyes open, Jo's sobs in the air, and every hair on MJ's body standing up. Kai had won. Kai had the power of the entire coven, and, now, if they killed him, they'd be killing Jo and Liv.

"I – I – " She was frozen in her spot, "I'm so sorry, Jo, I – "

She blinked.

She needed to get out.

MJ needed to get Bonnie back, and she needed to be as far from the Gemini Coven as she could get before he got bored and realised he could just kill her.

Another dead body.

Someone who'd openly hated her but who'd died for his family.

"MJ!"

She spun around at the sound of a British Accent.

Kol's new face, eye bags and pale skin, slightly sweaty, like he'd been in a fight.

As his arms collided with her body, she started to cry again, the hug holding her up, the last dregs of the sleeping spell vanishing.

"Shh, shh," He stroked the back of her hair.

"Where – "

"You're safe now," Kol could see the dead body on the floor, and he didn't really care about it, "Awake, and safe."

He felt like a liar saying it.

She'd been bled out under what was technically his watch.

But it was what MJ needed to hear.

"I've got you."