Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries nor am I making any profit from this. Characters, etc. all belong to their respective owners.

A/N: Sorry for taking forever to update this! Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, etc.! I very much appreciate it!

Enjoy!

Kol's still asleep when she wakes up. She can't help but smile a little bit at how young he looks with his face half-smushed into the pillow.

Sitting up, she reaches down and grabs his shirt that's laying on the floor and pulls it on to cover herself up before heading towards the balcony. The morning air feels muggy, but she doesn't it mind it too much.

She pulls out one of the chairs that was pushed into the balcony table and curls up in it. Then, she closes her eyes and listens to the music that was playing in the streets below.

Even though she hasn't been here very long, Bonnie can't deny that she finds herself heavily drawn to this city. It was just so alive and bursting at the seams.

But then her mind drifts back to the previous night when that vampire—Marcel—killed that witch. As beautiful and lively as the city seemed, there was definitely no denying it had a very active and very seedy supernatural underbelly.

"You should come back to bed," Kol says from behind her, breaking through her thoughts. He leans down and brushes her messy hair off to the side to press a seductive kiss to the curve where her neck meets her shoulder.

"If I come back to bed, it'll only be to sleep," she replies sternly. "You wore me out last night."

Kol laughs, obviously taking some pride in that.

She smiles briefly before letting out a small sigh.

"I can see the wheels turning in your mind," he informs her, taking a seat in the other chair across the table.

"I keep thinking about what happened last night with that witch and Marcel," she admits, biting her lip.

Before Kol can respond, his cellphone starts to ring. He pulls it out of his picket and glances at the screen, his eyebrows raising slightly before he answers.

"Nik," Kol says by way of greeting. "The old governor's house? What happened to the Abattoir?"

Bonnie really wishes she could hear the other side of the conversation because as it went on, she could see Kol becoming more and more displeased.

"So…what was that about?" Bonnie asks when Kol hangs up the phone.

"Nik wants us to meet him," Kol replies. He sits back and purses his lips.

"About Marcel?" Bonnie assumes.

He nods in response.

"So…is he on our side or…?"

"The only side Nik is ever on is his own."

Bonnie bites her lips again. She had managed to take down Silas (granted, with some help) and she has no doubt she could take down Klaus (she couldn't kill him, but she could desiccate him…she's done it before) and Marcel if she really put her mind to it. But could she take them both on at the same time? Not to mention, she still has no idea how Marcel was maintain control over witches here…

God, this was all so complicated.

"Well, I guess we should go get dressed," Bonnie says, standing up.

The place Klaus is staying at—she remembers Kol referring to it as the old governor's mansion—it reminds her of Lockwood manor. Beautiful, but too massive and too opulent at the same time.

She hadn't expected Elijah to be there.

"Miss. Bennett," he says in greeting, "Kol."

"Elijah, shouldn't you be off playing house with your dear Katherine?" Kol asks with a wry smile. "Then again, you always did come running when it was Nik calling." There's no mistaking the bitterness in his voice.

"Now, now," Klaus says drolly, entering the foyer. "Where's Bekah?" He asked, looking around.

"She's not interested in coming," Elijah says flatly, causing Klaus to frown.

"What do you want?" Bonnie asks Klaus, blunt and to the point, which is something Klaus could appreciate.

"I want my city back, of course. And you all are going to help me."

Kol scoffs, Elijah purses his lips and shoves his hands in his pockets, and Bonnie just stares.

"And I'd help you because…?" Bonnie asks dryly.

"Don't tell me after that macabre display last night you're content to leave Marcel in power," Klaus retorts.

"No, but I'm not exactly 'content' to trade in one sociopath for another."

"Say the witch who's dating a sociopath."

"No need to get nasty," Kol interjects, his lips quirked into a dry smile. Then, turning to Bonnie, he says, "Unlike Marcel, Nik isn't foolish enough to believe he can indefinitely control every single witch in the Quarter."

Bonnie bites her lips. Throwing her lot in with Klaus is very dangerous and very risky, but hadn't she done the same with Kol when it came to Silas and the cure?

Not to mention the fact that he's going to go after Marcel whether or not we agree to help him, Bonnie thinks. And the enemy of my enemy is…well, definitely not my friend, but it's one less problem for now. Hopefully.

"So what is your brilliant plan?" Kol asks.

"Simple, we befriend Marcel and then take him down from the inside out," Klaus replies.

"Except there's no way in hell Marcel would believe that from me," Kol points out. "And he knows you and all about your power-hungry trips. And everyone knows Elijah will take whichever side you're on…"

"What about the other witches?" Bonnie asks. "I mean, they can't be happy to just sit by while all this is happening, especially since one of their own just got killed last night."

"They're holding vigil for Jane-Anne Deveraux," Elijah supplies. "Marcel won't allow the body to be moved. Her sister, Sophie Deveraux has expressed interesting in meeting you, however," he tells Bonnie.

Bonnie raises her eyebrows.

Kol wants to go with her to see the witches, but they both agree it's best the she does it alone. Odds were, they wouldn't trust Kol at all…it was a surprise that they had even spoken with Elijah at all.

Despite it still being daylight, candles are lit and witches line the street where Jane-Anne's body lay. She still can't wrap her head around the fact that this is all in the open, yet no humans ever seem to be around to question it.

Bonnie slowly approaches those who had gathered around the body.

She's not sure what to say. There's one woman who was crouched by Jane-Anne's head, carefully and slowly running her hand through the dead woman's hair.

She bears such a resemblance to Jane-Anne that Bonnie knows this must be her sister.

The woman looks over at Bonnie and stands up.

"You're Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett, aren't you?" she asks.

Bonnie silently nods. She doesn't know what to think about the fact that she's apparently known her.

"I'm Sophie, Jane-Anne's sister. Will you come with me?"

Bonnie nods and begins to follow Sophie.

"How come this is just all out in the open?" Bonnie asks as they walk.

"Nobody comes here anymore, but witches," Sophie replies. "And Marcel won't let us bury her…it's another way of showing the power he has over us. He knows her soul won't be at rest until we bury her."

"I'm sorry about Jane-Anne," Bonnie says sincerely.

Sophie swallows heavily and nods.

Sophie ends up taking her to a cemetery and Bonnie would be lying if she said she doesn't find it at least a little creepy.

"This ground has been consecrated by the witches, so vampires can't enter without an invitation," Sophie explains.

Bonnie could feel supernatural energy throughout New Orleans, but this cemetery in particular…it feels like every particle in her body is humming with the magic in the air.

"What…" Bonnie stops herself, not quite sure how to phrase this question delicately.

"What the hell is going on in New Orleans?" Sophie asks with a wry grin. "How can one vampire who, in all honestly, isn't more extraordinary than your average vampire possible have every witch in this town cowering in fear?"

"Yeah."

"It's a long story, but it all comes down to a single witch. She's young, but very powerful and about eight months ago, Marcel took her and she can tell him whenever a witch is using magic here."

"How…how is that possible?" Bonnie asks. "I've never heard of anything like that."

She knows you could detect when magic has been used on an object or a person, but to know exactly when, where, and who was casting a spell?

"That's because your magic is different. Yours comes from nature and your ancestors are mainly there to serve as guides."

And sometimes judge and jury, Bonnie thinks silently.

"But here in the Quarter, our magic comes from our ancestors. Each time one of us passes, we perform a special ritual to consecrate them here and they join the ancestors to help strengthen us. Because of it, the witches who practice this type of magic here are all connected to one another. And it's why we can't leave. If we did, we'd be too far away from where our ancestors were laid to rest and we couldn't perform magic."

The explanation, for the most part, makes sense. Bonnie knew that there were different types of magic…she had dabbled in Expression before as well as another type of dark magic that she wasn't sure even had a name. Still…

"But it's more than just that, isn't it? Because, otherwise, wouldn't Marcel have had the bright idea to take a witch sooner?" Bonnie asks.

Based on Sophie's expression, Bonnie can tell that the other witch is half-pleased and half wary that Bonnie can figure out there's more than she's letting on.

"It's very complicated and there's only so much we can discuss at one time."

Bonnie's tempted to make the complaint that she can't do anything to help if she doesn't know everything that's really going on, but Marcel seems like the type to have eyes everywhere and if he or one of his lackeys saw them in the cemetery…it was best that they leave soon.

"You're sister…Jane-Anne, Marcel killed her for practicing magic," Bonnie begins, switching the subject. "Do you know what kind of spell she was performing?"

"A summoning spell," Sophie replies. "She called on the ancestors to bring us anybody who's strong enough to take Marcel down. And it obviously worked because there's Klaus, an Original who knows Marcel inside and out. I know his brothers are here and since they're Originals as well, Marcel can't kill them because they don't abide by his rules. And then there's you, a Bennett witch who managed to stop the world's oldest and most powerful immortal."

That revelation makes Bonnie more than a little nervous. But there's another revelation that's satisfying; since she doesn't practice ancestral magic, Marcel's witch would have no idea if Bonnie was practicing magic or not.

A/N: Thanks for reading and, as always, reviews are very much appreciated!