This will be a two/three-parter. I do not own the characters. Excuse the mistakes. Cheers x

Klaus rolled his rock glass between his palms before bringing the amber liquid to his lips. He drummed his fingers on the dingy bar top only to repeat steps one through two.

It was quite unlike her to be late - he patted his bomber jacket for a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

He inhaled furiously; It's not like she was required to come at all. But he had to admit, there was a part of him that felt like he was being stood up at the prom.

He rolled his eyes and finished his drink. Moping was not a good look on a thousand-year-old immortal.

He got up and threw a few bills on the bar and shoved his wallet back in his pocket in a way that Rebekah would deem "bratty".

"You're not leaving are you?" He turned around quickly. There she was. She seemed slightly out of breath and was still clutching her car keys in her small hands - it was unlike her to be late.

"Of course not, love," he smirked and leaned on the bar, "What will it be today? An Earl Grey or perhaps Lemon Lift."

It was just like Bonnie to order a cup of tea in a southern dive bar 10 miles away from her basic, hick town. Klaus liked to remind her of that every Thursday around 3:30 pm.

He asked the bartender to send the witch a drink the first time he saw her at McScruffies. She was on the far side of the bar, book in hand, eyebrows drawn down in concentration. The bartender chuckled and took a drag of his cigarette, "That's the wrong tree to be barking up bud."

Klaus' eyes squinted in a way that could only be described as murderous, "We're old friends," he said dryly.

The bartender just shrugged, poured a glass of whiskey and walked it to Bonnie's seat. He watched her lookup (only after finishing the sentence she was on prior) and frown - deeply.

Only then did Klaus notice the mug.

"He said he's a friend of yours," Klaus didn't need superhuman hearing to pick up the mirth in the bartender's voice all the way on the other side of the bar.

Green eyes found blue in a matter of seconds. Klaus raised his glass to her with a mischievous smirk. He lived for moments like these - especially with a certain high and mighty Bennet witch.

He braced himself for an aneurysm, or perhaps one of her famous lectures. Instead, much to his surprise, Bonnie pushed the shot of whiskey to the bartender and softly said "That's all yours Joe, enjoy," before returning to her book.

Joe walked back over to Klaus and slammed back the shot of whiskey meant for the green-eyed witch, "I told you, brother, you're barking up the wrong tree."

"Do you ever tire of being the only creature of intelligence in that ragtag group you call friends," Klaus could barely hide the judgment in his voice as he watched Bonnie dunk her tea bag in a mug of hot water.

"Come on, we've talked about how we don't talk about them," Bonnie said without looking up, exhaustion coating her every word.

Klaus looked at her intently as he leaned against the bar. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to imagine what she would look like if only she allowed herself to thrive.

Here she was, perhaps the most powerful witch on the globe, sitting on a sticky bar stool with her hair tied back in a sloppy bun, wearing a ratty grey cardigan. If they hadn't been doing this for months Klaus would have to blink a few times to confirm that this vision of wasted ability, of wasted beauty, was real.

Bonnie removed the tea bag from the water and met his gaze - he was uncharacteristically quiet, "What?"

His mouth galloped ahead of his brain, "Come back to New Orleans with me."

The doorbell woke Bonnie up from a dream about sunlight. Mystic Falls was enduring its third straight week of rain and fog. And it was starting to have an effect on Bonnie's mood and her magic.

She made her way to the front door to find no one on the other side of it. But at her feet was a beautifully wrapped basket filled to the brim with nothing but fluffy beignets covered in snow white powdered sugar.

Bonnie couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face if she tried. An elegant, ruby-colored card with the initials 'NM' never graced her hands; she knew exactly who they were from.

"Come on witchy, there's got to be something in your little book of shadows that can help." Damon said pacing her room with one of her stuffed animals clutched in his hands.

Bonnie sat at her desk and tried not to roll her eyes, "Damon, I looked, then I looked again and then I looked for a third time. I don't know what to tell you."

Damon made a big production of sighing then chucking her stuffed animal onto the bed.

He turned around to see a deep-set frown on Bonnie's face.

"My bad Judgy, I just…" he takes a moment to finally sit down so he's at eye level with her. "I guess I'm just used to you having all the answers."

Bonnie tucks a strand of hair behind her ears and looks down. The feeling of letting her friends down looms over her like the fog outside the windows.

"I'll look into-" Bonnie is interrupted by Damon's right hand cupping her face. Her eyes don't leave his, even to blink.

Damon's thumb graced her cheek gently, "You-you had some kind of powder on your face," he whispers.

Bonnie nodded and unconsciously nuzzled her face further into Damon's warm hand. Damon's thumb continued to move across her cheek. However his attempt to move closer was thwarted by his cell phone ringing.

He launched up and answered it on the second ring, "Hey Elena," he said cheerfully, "Yeah, I'm at Bonnie's. We're figuring something out."

Bonnie swiveled around in her chair and faced her Grimoire again. She closed her eyes tightly and pictured the sun.

Klaus was happy to be back in New Orleans, even if it was just for a few days at a time. After all, he did have a standing meeting back north on Thursday.

He thinks about the way Bonnie's neck stretched back in laughter after he asked her to come with him to New Orleans.

His original rage of being so openly made fun of dissolved when he realized that he had never seen Bonnie laugh before. A bashful smile here or a sarcastic smirk there - but never a full body hearty laugh. He allowed his ego to take a back seat to his wonderment. He immediately calculated just how he could make her laugh like that again.

"And what exactly am I meant to do with you in New Orleans Klaus?" Bonnie asked in between spurts of giggling.

"Well, love I can think of a number of things," Bonnie laughed again in an attempt to drown out the butterflies in her stomach hatched from Klaus' innuendo laced tone.

Klaus' lips stretched into his first genuine in a while, "Think of the magic, the music, the food. You could walk the streets your ancestors walked."

Bonnie looked at Klaus, leaning comfortably in his bar chair, a 1000 watt smile touching his devilish features. She couldn't help but move closer in awe.

"The places I could show you. The people you'd meet. You're already powerful now but just think-"

"Of the evil deeds I would be required to do in your name," Bonnie interrupted.

Klaus rolled his eyes, "I almost forgot that I choose to drink with the spirit of self-righteousness herself."

Bonnie 'humphed' into her tea, "And don't you forget it."

It was Klaus' turn to chuckle, "You'll be surprised to know that there are no evil deeds afoot in New Orleans."

Bonnie's left eyebrow arched in suspicion.

Klaus shrugged, "Well, little to no evil deeds are afoot."

"I knew it!"

"Bonnie, this isn't about good or evil. Or your insipid friends or my so-called evil deeds. If you left this dreary culture less town you'd realize that there is a whole world out there. Don't you want to bask in the sunlight. Don't you want to live?"

Bonnie's hands began to tremble around her tea mug. The blush on her cheeks matched Klaus' - she'd never seen anyone speak so passionately.

She blinked twice and composed herself, "I see why Caroline almost fell for that."

Klaus cocked his head to the side almost as if to shrug, "I've been right before love. In time you'll see that."

Bonnie licked her lips in a futile attempt to relive biting into a beignet. Grams always said she had a wicked sweet tooth; she should've saved a few.

She let out a big sigh as she looked out into the rain from the Boarding House's giant windows.

"I'm sorry, are we boring you, Bon Bon," Damon asked dryly from his spot near the liquor cabinet.

"Damon!" Elena snapped in a whisper before turning to Bonnie, "Ignore him Bonnie. Are you alright though? You seem a little distracted."

Bonnie stood up from the burgundy loveseat and made her way over to the dining table, "I'm fine. Just thinking."

"What about?"

Bonnie blushed, visions of Klaus pouty lips meeting his glass with a smirk filled her mind immediately. She cleared her throat,"A solution. I've been tracking down some new Grimoires. I think I need to tap into a different kind of magic."

Elena nodded her head, "That's a great idea. Maybe there's something to strip the power away from this vampire. He's powerful, but in a different kind of way."

Damon stepped closer to Elena as almost to shield her from the memory of the attack that happened two weeks ago, "We have to hit him back and quickly."

Bonnie nodded, Damon and Elena looked like the cover of a romance novel, "I'm working as fast as I can Damon."

"Of course Bonnie, we know. What would we do without you?" Elena left Damon's side to envelope Bonnie in a hug.

Bonnie was afraid of what she would say if she answered. Instead, she hugged Elena back and thought of a time when they hugged after sappy movies and girl talk.

"Are we sure this isn't one of the Original assholes abominations?" Damon asked while walking Bonnie to the car.

"It's not," Bonnie answered back immediately.

Damon's eyebrows arched up quickly, his eyes squinted with suspicion, "And what makes you so sure of that?"

"I-I just know," Bonnie closed her umbrella and got into her car, "Plus like you said. We've never seen anything like this. We know what hybrids are like."

Damon crossed his arms, "Whatever you say witchy."

"I'll let you know if I get my hands on that new grimoire."

"You mean when you get your hands on that new Grimoire."

Bonnie put her umbrella down as she entered Grams' house. She couldn't decide if she should cry or laugh that it still smelled the same.

A thin layer of dust had formed over the plastic covering.

"Sorry Grams," Bonnie whispered, it had been months since she'd been there.

Bonnie didn't know what she was looking for exactly, but she knew she'd find it here. Go back to the source, baby. That's what Grams would've said if she was there. Bonnie took a deep breath and climbed the steps all the way up to the attic. The lights flickered on and for a brief moment, she thought she saw Grams' silhouette. The rain beat down on the house so furiously Bonnie could almost feel the cold drops on her skin, she stretched her worn cardigan over her body.

She browsed the largest bookshelf in the room and regretted never diving into them when Grams was alive. It was all cheerleading practice and artsy bad boys. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Her fingers traced every book spine but stopped at a small, weathered ruby book. Magic tickled between her fingers and traveled manically through her body only to find its home at the base of her chest. Bonnie's breath hitched as she removed it from the shelf reverently and opened its cover.

A young Grams beamed up at her from a sepia-toned polaroid photo. Dressed to the nines and leaning elegantly on the railing of an ornate, rod iron balcony, Grams couldn't be much older than 20.

Bonnie could feel her jaw drop slowly. Her fingers trembled as she flipped the photo over.

Sheila, 1949 French Quarter, New Orleans