(not a victim, victor)

Present Time

They were going grocery shopping. Or rather grocery stealing due to the fact they couldn't actually buy anything. Bonnie and Damon shoved each other gently as they fought over the cart while Klaus and Margot strayed a few feet behind, a common activity they had noted in the past few weeks.

"Stop fighting," the heretic spoke, causing them both to stop. They were like children. She glanced down at her list, "Now, we need strawberries... eggs, milk... Oh and, Bonnie, can you get some candles?"

Bonnie smiled before grabbing two vanilla-scented ones from the shelf beside her.

"I know it's been a while, but you couldn't do magic as an Anchor. So, I'm curious what momentary relapse of reason makes you two think Bonnie can do it now?"

"You don't just lose magic, Damon. There is always something that can put a pause on it and clearly, that's what's happening now. It's like when Bonnie found out about vampires, she got scared and her magic stopped working. We just need to figure out the block."

Bonnie sent the heretic a thankful smile. "Exactly. And two months ago, you sucked at making pancakes and now, they're somewhat edible."

"Milk," Margot exclaimed as they passed a fridge before Damon grabbed a carton as they continued walking.

"-There's no reason to be a Peter-Pessimist. We have proof we are not alone," Bonnie continued as she grabbed a pair of sunglasses off of a rack before putting them on.

"First of all," Damon began as he placed the milk carton in the cart, "Don't nickname, that's my thing. And this proof, this mysteriously filled-in crossword could very easily have been you."

"I didn't fill it in," the witch argued.

"No. You don't know you filled it in. You also don't know that you talk in your sleep-"

"Eggs," Klaus spoke up, causing Bonnie to grab a carton before they continued walking again.

"What are you saying? You're saying I sleep crossword?"

"I'm saying it makes more sense than the alternative."

"I get what you're doing."

Damon scoffed, "What am I doing?"

"You refuse to have hope that you'll see Elena again, so you don't have to be disappointed."

"I refuse to have hope because there's nothing to hope for."

"Pork rinds," Bonnie said, earning a confused look from Margot, "Those aren't on the list, little witch."

"No, there were pork rinds here, on this shelf. There have been pork rinds here on every shopping trip we've had for the past two months–" She paused when the sounds of 'Merry Go Round 'music filled her ears, "You hear that?"

They quickly walked out of the shop only to see the small merry-go-round spinning while playing music. Bonnie smiled, "Hear that, Damon? That's what hope sounds like."

"Or a really creepy horror movie," Margot commented in amusement, earning a chuckle from Klaus as his arm wrapped around her shoulder, "I'll keep you safe, love."

"You'd save me from Chucky? How romantic."

"If this place doesn't kill me I will shoot myself because of them," Damon said with a groan before he busted open the control panel. "It's got to be short, faulty wiring, something."

"Or, someone put a quarter in it and turned it on," Bonnie said, her voice awfully cheerful.

"You know, I'm a little confused with all this misplaced hope. All right. Let's just say there's someone here. How do you know we're gonna get out?"

"Well, you say that this is your hell, right? If there's someone else here, that means it's not your hell, and if it's not your hell, that means Grams put us here, and if Grams put us here, there's a way out."

"There's a hell of a logic knot you've tied for yourself."

"Thank you," Bonnie smiled. "So now that we've properly placed our hope, let's play a game. When we get out, what's the first thing you're gonna tell Elena?"

Damon grinned manically, "Sorry I killed Bonnie, but she was the most annoying person in the world. She wouldn't shut up. She just kept talking. I mean, it's a wonder I made it as long as I did, but here's the thing: I think it's better this way because she didn't have magic, and she was pretty much useless."

Margot rolled her eyes before throwing a rock at his head, "Don't be a dick." He grunted as the large rock hit him before bouncing to the ground where it fell on his foot.

"Damon?" Bonnie started earning a look from the vampire. "I don't know. You still think I'm useless?" she asked, pointing to a parked blue car.

Damon almost jumped for joy when the car came into his sight, "That's my car. That's my car!"

Five minutes had passed and Damon was still sitting in the driver's seat, playing with the wheel whilst making false engine noises with his mouth.

"How much longer are we gonna listen–" Margot started only for the older Salvatore to shush her.

"This sound is the opposite sound of your voice, and I so enjoy it."

"How did it even get here, Damon? Did you leave it here in 1994?"

"I don't know, Maggie. It was 18 years ago. Had a lot going on that day."

"Ok. So you admit that it's pretty unlikely that you did," Bonnie spoke up.

"Very unlikely."

"Which would stand to reason that..."

"Someone may have put it here, Bonnie. Yes. I admit that..." He stayed silent for a few minutes, his eyes staring out as he spoke up, "I'm gonna tell Elena how much I love her, and then I'm gonna apologize for killing you."

Just then, they saw something move.

"Wait. Did you see that?" Bonnie asked.

Damon nodded, "I did that time. Let's go meet our little friend."

"It was behind the pickup," Bonnie said, glancing over only to see Klaus and Margot preoccupied against a brick wall.

"No. It was in the front," Damon corrected trying not to vomit at the sight of Klaus kissing his niece.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Absolutely I'm sure. It was right there," the wind suddenly picked up and a tarp moved. "It was a tarp. We saw a tarp," Bonnie sighed as she stared at the blowing black fabric.

Then the Merry-Go-Round went off.

"And that– that is on a timer. That turned on by itself."

Bonnie frowned, "But your car?"

"I left it here in '94."

"And the crossword?"

"You filled it out, Bonnie. Which means we're alone in my own hell with no Grams escape hatch. We're never getting out."

Bonnie sighed before holding out her hand, "Give me your ring."

"What?"

"Give me your ring. All I've heard you say is that you have no hope and that this is your hell, so if it's so bad, why don't you just end it? Hope is the only thing keeping me going, Damon, so if you're really done, if you have none, then be done because this isn't helping."

With her words, Bonnie walked off, leaving the Salvatore alone.

Damon scoffed before going back inside the grocery store and walking to the booze aisle. He trailed his hand along the shelf before picking up a bottle.

The sounds of... chewing? Filled his ears though before he could take a sip.

He walked closer, going past the display of umbrellas only to see a man sitting on a chair eating pork rinds.

"Rough day, huh, Damon?" He smirked, "Sorry. Manners. I'm Kai. Nice to meet you. Pork rind?"

— — —

The sounds of Kai chewing on his pork rinds went on for a minute before Damon spoke up, "That is gonna have to stop."

"Oh, you think this is annoying? Hmm. Try listening to you and Bonnie bicker every 5 minutes. You two are insufferable and that's not even mentioning the two insatiable rabbits."

"So you've been following us."

"Of course, I have. You four are the closest thing I have to a TV. I mean, you're no Baywatch, but– remember Baywatch?" Kai asked with a fond smile.

"No, I do not."

"Oh. Oh, man, you got to watch it. You like lifeguards, like... hot ones?"

Damon sighed as he got a sense of deja-vu. Whoever this Kai person was, he was incredibly similar to Margot. He remembered when she gave him the same rant not even three years ago.

"This has been a monumentally bad day in a sea of bad days, so, I'm gonna need to know who you are, what you're doing here, and how it relates to me, or I'm gonna rip your throat out."

"Temper's gonna get you in trouble, Damon. It's already driven Bonnie away how many times? Oh, oh, oh, wait. I know. Thirteen. Same with Margot, she's good though, she's only left five times."

"You think my temper's bad with them? I like them. You not so much," Damon used his speed to grab Kai before holding him off the ground by the neck of his jacket.

Kai looked down at him nervously, "Ok. Ok. Sorry. Seriously. I'm just kind of rusty on the face-to-face type of human interactions."

"Answers now," Damon demanded as he let the boy go before glancing at the liquor bottles.

"Maybe you should have a drink. That usually calms you down," Kai awkwardly suggested as he caught his breath, rubbing his neck to ease the growing ache from the vampire's hand.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Thanks."

"And makes you angry, then sad, then calm again. It's a weird cycle, and look. If you really want to know the reason I'm following you, it's because..." Damon grabbed a bottle before taking a sip only to spit it out as vervain burned his throat.

"I want to kill you," Kai said with a smirk as he watched the vampire writhe in pain on the floor.

"Vervain in your bourbon. Who didn't see that one coming?..." He paused as he glanced around before picking up an umbrella and snapping it in half. "Who buys patio furniture from a grocery store? I mean, somebody must. Otherwise, it– it wouldn't be here, but now I'm a little unfamiliar with vampires, but from what I've gathered, a stake in the heart should do it, right?"

Damon screamed loudly as Kai stabbed the wooden pole into his hand.

Kai grinned as he twisted the wood eliciting a stream of grunts from Damon, "You always fight dirty, Damon. Like that time you four played Monopoly and you stole from the bank. Not cool."

Damon grunted, "I'm gonna rip your head off."

The boy only smiled, "No. You're not..." He paused as he pulled the umbrella out of Damon's hand before smashing the bottles of bourbon earning a pained scream from the vampire. "I didn't know which bottle you'd take, so I vervained them all."

Just then, Bonnie ran in, gasping lightly at the sight of Damon's burnt skin, "Stay away from him."

"Ahh, the useless one is here. Thank god. I've watched you try to do magic for months now. What are you gonna do, fail at me? It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for you. You should've brought Margot, she seems to be the only smart one."

Bonnie glanced down at Damon earning a nod before she stared at a candle. Flames slowly appeared at the wick earning a nervous look from Kai.

Seconds later, Margot ran in with Klaus following behind her.

"Uh-oh," Kai whispered, nerves filling him at the sight of the heretic and hybrid.

"Do something, kid!" Damon yelled but Margot stayed silent. She stared at Kai with an odd expression.

"Who are you?" Margot asked, pushing Bonnie behind her signalling for her to do nothing.

Kai stayed silent so Margot sped to him before throwing him down against the ground and holding him by his neck. "I said, who are you?"

"I- I'm Kai," his voice was full of struggle as he answered but it worked all the same. Margot's eyes widened as she glanced back at Klaus before looking at the boy beneath her with a softer look. "Full name, please."

The blue-eyed man coughed, "Ma– Malachai Parker."

Her grip immediately loosened on his neck. "Kai? Oh my god, you're alive?"

Tears filled her eyes as she pulled him off the ground before wrapping her arms around him.

Kai glanced down at her awkwardly, "Sorry, why are you hugging me? Not that I mind, you're very attractive but... why?"

Klaus almost lost it. If he didn't know how much Margot cared for him, he would have his head on a platter for that comment.

"It's Ellie, Kai."

His eyes widened as he looked at her, his hands coming up to her face as he looked her over. "Holy shit, El. You– you're not five or dead anymore."

She chuckled as she shook her head, "It seems you're not dead anymore either, but you're still twenty-two."

"But- But your name is Margot. How could you be my Ellie?"

"I changed my name. I forgot it after the incident–" Margot attempted to explain only for Damon to cut in. "I'm sorry but how do you know the psychopath?" he asked as Bonnie helped him up from the ground, his wounds slowly healing.

"Sociopath, actually," Kai corrected.

"Kai and I grew up next to each other– He was a babysitter of sorts."

Damon frowned, "Does he know about your dad?"

Margot quickly shook her head. She didn't want to get into that. Kai, however, did. "What did the bastard do?"

"Nothing–" Margot shook her head, sending a quick glare toward the vampire. "Come on, we have so much to talk about."

— — —

Margot had taken Kai to her and Klaus' home. She didn't want Damon or Bonnie to hear their conversation.

"How are you here?" she asked, breaking the silence as she handed him a fresh cup of tea.

"My coven sent me here... after I killed my family."

Margot chuckled, "I remember reading that in a newspaper. Good job, a little sloppy though. You missed the twins, Jo and your dick of a dad."

He smiled, "Before I could get to them they crowded me. Jo promised to do the merge, and they sent me here while I was weak. I've been here ever since."

Her eyes widened, "You've been here since 1994?"

Kai nodded solemnly, "6,771 days and counting. What about you? Samuel told everyone you died of bronchitis. They had a funeral and everything."

Margot stared down at her cup of tea, "I never died. My dad locked me in our basement. He found out I was a siphoner and... shit hit the fan I guess."

Kai was silent as he stared at her. "How long?" he asked after a few minutes.

"10 years..." Margot whispered, looking back up at him, with a sad look before shaking her head. "It's okay though, Damon's brother Stefan found me and rescued me. He adopted me and gave me his last name, even named me Margot since I couldn't remember my real name..."

Kai smiled slightly, "Is he good to you?"

"Stefan?"

"No. Klaus," he said, referring to the man who stood in the other room in case Margot called for him.

She grinned widely, hearing the man's name was enough to make her heart flutter, "He's perfect. I love him more than anything."

"I guess I can't kill him then?"

Margot chuckled as she shook her head, "No. He's off limits and so are Bonnie and Damon. They're my family, just like you."

Kai's eyes widened, "You still think of me as your family?"

She grasped his hand, holding it tightly in her own, "Of course, Kai. You're my brother, how could I not?"