Alright so, I do sincerely apologise for the lateness of any updates. FF decided one of my fics violated T&C and locked me out because I had the word 'shit' in a summary. They deleted the fic, which has been up for over SIX YEARS and froze my account for a while so I couldn't upload so yeah. Not my fault they suck. That's also why all my fics are now securely on an M rating, even though they're more T.

Warnings: Maybe language?

Disclaimer: I don't own TVD.

Curve Balls

Bonnie woke slowly, head pounding and her throat feeling scratchy. She groaned a little as the harsh sunlight filtering through her window burned her eyes. It was a few more seconds before her brain caught up with her and she realised she wasn't the only one in her bed.

Her arm was sprawled across a certain sleeping vampire and she winced, drawing it back slowly. When she'd retrieved her limb without waking the brunette she sat up on her elbows, taking the chance to study the enigma that was Kol Mikaelson.

Why was he here? Amusement perhaps? Maybe now that Klaus was playing nice for a little while the originals were left with nothing better to do. She sighed, pulling back the hand she hadn't known she'd been reaching out toward him.

"We really have to stop meeting like this love."

She couldn't bring herself to laugh but managed to crack a small smile nonetheless. "Maybe you need to stop breaking into my house then," she replied, watching as he only smirked – eyes still closed. You couldn't tell when he was awake or not because he didn't need to breathe.

'And when you've been spending enough time with a vampire to realize that Bonnie, you obviously need a time out' she thought to herself. Sighing she rolled out of bed and headed to the window. The weather at least was better than it had been – she had intended on going to the opening of the new Wickery Bridge yesterday before all this began, it was nice and sunny for it. Obviously though, that hadn't happened.

Folding her arms over her chest she closed her eyes, feeling her head begin to pound. Damn headaches, this is why she shouldn't cry. She was two steps to the bathroom to find herself an aspirin when she stopped in her tracks. Why should she even take aspirin? There had to be some sort of spell for this right?

Rolling her eyes, she turned on her heel once more, sliding onto the floor to pull a grimoire from under her bed. She was sure her Grams' would have some sort of pain relieving spell.

Crossing her legs on the rug, she drew the book into her lap and began flicking though the pages, biting her lip as she went.

"What are you looking for little witch?"

She looked up to come nose to nose with Kol, leaning lazily over the edge of her bed. She had almost forgotten he was even there and that in itself was dangerous. She opened her mouth to tell him to mind his own business but stopped short at his inquisitive stare, breath escaping her.

She struggled for a moment before blurting out the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm not little!"

He only smiled at her indulgently and she huffed, returning to the grimoire.

"I'm looking for a pain reliever," she muttered reluctantly, gaze fixated on the pages in front of her.

She was sure her reaction was comical when he answered a few seconds later, "I've got one."

Her jaw dropped and she let out a scoff. "You? Know a pain relieving spell?"

He smirked. "I didn't say I knew a spell." Her eyes widened as the veins beneath his eyes protruded, black and swollen and he tore through the flesh of his wrist with two sharp incisors. She stared dumbly as he held out the bleeding appendage.

"No!" She cried automatically, recoiling.

He rolled his eyes. "Keep searching your spells then, but I won't offer again."

She nearly bit clean through her lip as she focused on the red liquid coating his wrist. It would be so easy…an instant fix.

"How do I know you won't kill me before it's out of my system? I don't want to be a vampire!" She glared fiercely up at him, the tiny part of her that still wanted to serve mother nature telling her not to trust a monster.

"You're more useful to me with your powers Miss Bennett," he commented idly as the wound on his wrist began to stitch itself back together.

She moved forward a little, hesitantly, but then aborted the move at the last second. "It won't do anything to me?"

It was Kol's turn to roll his eyes then. "You've been watching too many vampire movies." He took a strong grip on her arm, pulling her up next to him with one motion. "I promise you little witch, you won't enjoy it, it won't be quite to your…human taste."

She couldn't say what compelled her to do it – no pun intended – but one second she was watching his skin knit itself back up and the next she was sucking on it, pulling the blood into her mouth. He was right, it tasted repugnant. It was true that blood tasted like a nickel and drinking it willingly again would not be going on her bucket list.

She pulled away coughing, hating the feeling of the sticky substance on her lips. But…she could already feel her headache ebbing away – an instant fix. She didn't know whether it was the blood, or her recently less than stable state of mind, but instead of doing the sensible thing and washing her mouth out, or even taking a shower, she found herself launching forward and smashing her lips against his.

It didn't take him more than a second to kiss her back and by the time they separated for air, his hands were gripping her hips.

"Damn it." She muttered, throwing herself away from him. Here she was, not even 48 hours after her mother's death, making out with a vampire and drinking his blood like some kind of…she didn't want to even think the word. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Here we go…" she heard Kol mutter and glared at him darkly.

"Shut up!" She snapped, feeling her magic bubble like fire beneath her fingertips.

"You need to stop being so moral!" He sneered at her.

"I'm not-"

"Yes!" He interrupted her, "you are!"

She growled, contemplating whether it was worth picking up her grimoire and throwing it at his head.

"Tell me this then, little witch and be honest." He got up, stepping forward until they were toe to toe. "Why did you do it?"

Why did she do it? Why? Realising exactly what her answer was and where he was going with this she snarled, throwing her hands in the air. Honestly…"Because I wanted to!"

He grinned then, actually showing teeth and she sighed, socking him in the arm with her fist, making sure to use a little of her powers so it would actually have some effect. This was getting ridiculous.

"Why do you even care?" She asked as she stomped down the stairs, making her way into the kitchen to have something to eat and hopefully get rid of the horrid taste of blood that was lingering in her mouth.

"I find you intriguing Miss Bennett." He was right behind her, "and quite attractive."

She couldn't help but slam her glass down at that. "Do you now?"

"What can I say? I like to have fun."

She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. "That's great. Just great."

At that moment her doorbell rang and she sent a quick prayer heavenward that it wouldn't be Damon Salvatore who greeted her when she opened the door.

"Caroline!" She greeted confusedly, but relieved all the same when the blonde girl bounded through the door.

"I'm so proud of you!" She squealed, launching herself forward to give the confused witch a hug.

"Uh…that's nice," Bonnie replied, raising an eyebrow.

"You finally stood up for yourself!"

"Oh. That." So Elena hadn't wasted any time in spreading the news, that was…awesome.

"What exactly did you do my little witch?" Kol questioned from behind her, immediately drawing Caroline's attention. She couldn't help but groan out loud as she saw Caroline's mouth silently moving 'my little witch'.

"Nothing. I didn't do anything."

"Oh no," the original replied, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Do tell."

Caroline grinned a little and Bonnie sighed. "I may have…pushed Elena over," she mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"What you did," Caroline corrected her, "is stand up for yourself."

Bonnie smiled a little. "Thanks Care."

"Hang on a minute," Kol raised his voice again, "how come it's ok for her to want you to grow a backbone, but not for me?"

"Because you're an evil vampire," Caroline chirped with a grin, "and I'm just a cheerleader."

"Who is also a vampire." Kol pointed out and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"How was your date?" She changed the subject, hoping Caroline wouldn't notice. Who was she kidding? Of course she wouldn't – if there was one thing Caroline loved to talk about, it was boys.

"It was great!" She answered enthusiastically, waving her arms as she described where Klaus had taken her for dinner and what they'd talked about.

Bonnie wondered what her blonde friend was going to do about Tyler. She understood that Caroline would never mean to hurt him intentionally but this was going to crush the boy, especially considering why he'd left in the first place. She didn't dare bring it up though in fear of ruining the blonde's better-than-good mood – after all, one of them had to be happy.

"So did you hear about Alaric?"

Bonnie shrugged a little at Caroline's sudden change of topic, feeling a little guilty that she hadn't been paying as much attention to her friend's obvious enthusiasm as she should have been. "Not really, I heard that he was arrested or something?"

It was true, she had overheard that when they were leaving the Grill yesterday.

"Yeah, I don't know what about though, mum wouldn't tell me anything when I asked this morning." Caroline shook her hair out of the tight ponytail it was in. "She's keeping something from me."

Before Bonnie could reply the Caroline's phone began to chirp. They glanced at each other quickly but before either could reach for it from where the blonde had thrown it on the table Kol had snatched it up and begun reading aloud.

"Meet in woods, Elena knows where. We have a plan."

Bonnie frowned, "personal space!" She muttered before snatching it back and handing it over to her friend. "How come I'm never invited to these things?" Bonnie threw her hands up in the air.

"I don't know, you have a charming personality."

She couldn't help herself at that, throwing her arm back she socked him in the gut, though she doubted he even felt it. "Shut up. Your stupid family didn't even invite me to your little ball!"

"Touchy. I didn't even know you then love." Kol rolled his eyes at her, pushing himself up to perch on the table.

"Yeah well, your mother did," Bonnie huffed, "considering I was the one that got her out of that damn coffin in the first place!" She wasn't sure whether it was her tone or the fact that she'd mentioned Esther but a dark look flickered across the original's eyes.

She twitched then as he made the tiniest movement and flinched – squeezing her eyes shut and throwing her power outwards. It was a knee-jerk reaction and though she stopped it mere seconds later, she still felt bad for what she'd done on instinct when he flinched back, hands grasping his temples.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"Anyway, what do I do?" Caroline cut in on her inner musings. "If they've found a way to kill Klaus…"

Bonnie sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers, feeling as if her headache would return again any minute now – it was far too early for this!

"You go. You go and find out what their plan is and we decide what to do later." Bonnie set the mug that she'd just emptied onto the kitchen sink. "Maybe you'll find out what's going on with Alaric too."

"Alright," Caroline murmured, picking up her keys. "I'll go now and I'll call you – let you know what's going on." She sent a furtive glance at Kol before giving Bonnie a quick hug and making her way out the door.

While she may have told Caroline they'd decide later, she already knew what the decision would be – they'd save the stupid originals. Even if her blonde friend couldn't tell herself, Bonnie could see how much she cared about Klaus. Lord knows why, but she was pretty sure Caroline was falling in love with the hybrid.

Besides, Kol had been present for the whole conversation – it wasn't as if the originals didn't already know there was a plan in motion anyway.

"You need to get dressed little witch, we have places to be."

Bonnie turned to face him, frowning. "I think our little adventure of self-discovery is going to have to wait Kol."

The brunette smirked. "Cute, but I wasn't talking about that. Klaus wants you to come over."

Bonnie stiffened instinctively. "He wants me to come over." She deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. "And how exactly was that phrased originally?"

"It was phrased just like that." Kol smiled a little, tilting his head. "He's asking politely." It was left unsaid that he wouldn't be taking no for an answer and that he also wouldn't be asking politely again.

"Huh." Bonnie mumbled, turning to make her way up the stairs once more. "Why exactly am I coming over?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

"You're going to undo the spell that our mother did binding us together." Well that answered her questions of how much he knew exactly.

"Even if I wanted to, and I'm not saying I don't," she yelled over the banister, "I wouldn't even know where to start."

Quicker than she could blink, he was centimetres in front of her and she didn't think she'd ever get used to that. "My family's been around a long time Miss Bennett. I'm sure we can help you figure it out."

It was interesting to her that he was visibly bothered by this because she usually found it so hard to read him.

"Okay," she mumbled. "Let me take a shower first."

"You need to hurry."

"I'm trying my best Klaus!" She grits her teeth, glaring up at him through a stray wisp of hair. The least he could do was be polite, while she was sure there was some kind of back-up plan in place to blackmail her, she was currently doing this of her own volition.

"Your little friends have a plan and while we may not know what it is, Finn is on the loose and an easy target. If he goes down, we all go down, so I suggest you try harder Miss Bennett." Klaus fumed, pacing up and down the room.

Taking a deep breath in through her nose and reminding herself to remain calm, Bonnie held out a hand, speaking to Kol who had been watching silently. "Give me that chalice."

She was double checking the grimoire's instructions again when the door burst open and Caroline flew into the room looking a little panicked.

"Caroline?" Klaus questioned, crossing the room towards her as Bonnie did the same.

"Shit." The witch muttered, figuring out exactly what Caroline's expression meant – the Salvatore's had a plan and this time it was actually a good one.

"We are in big trouble." The blonde muttered, meeting Bonnies eyes. "Well, not us," she turned to Klaus, punctuating with her hands. "But you, you are in trouble."

Kol nudged Bonnie, inclining his head towards Caroline as if to say, 'please get your friend to make sense'. It was a little hilarious to be honest to see Klaus confronted with a babbling Caroline, something that no sane person should have to endure.

"Care, what's their plan?" She cut in smoothly, bring Caroline's attention back to the point.

Caroline bit her lip. "They have stakes. White oak stakes from the original tree."

Klaus looked taken aback. "It's not possible," he growled, "we burned it all to ash."

Caroline only shakes her head before pulling a long white piece of timber out of her bag. "No,they have them. And they have more than one."

Klaus stares for a moment at the piece of wood before gritting his teeth. "How many exactly?"

"Eleven." Caroline replies promptly, "including this one of course."

"Who are they going after?" Kol speaks up from beside her and Bonnie jumps almost having forgotten he was there.

"They gave us all stakes," she shrugged, "whichever one of you is spotted first."

Bonnie spoke up then before anyone else could comment. "Then we'd better speed this up then." She held out the knife to Klaus, motioning for him to hold his hand over the bowl. "I need some of your blood."

The calculating look he gave her made her roll her eyes. Like she was going to try anything in the Lion's den.

It occurred to her as she completed the spell how useless she would feel without her magic. While she didn't like people using her only for her powers, she would feel like nothing without being able to use them. It was a double edged sword.

"That should have worked."

"Should have?" Klaus questioned.

"Well," she rolled her eyes with a little attitude, "how about we stake you and find out?" At his unimpressed glance she continued reluctantly. "If that didn't work then there's nothing I can do for you anyway."

"That's not exactly reassuring love," Kol muttered from beside her and Bonnie groaned.

"Well there's nothing else I can do! I'm ninety percent sure it worked."

"Uh, guys?" Caroline cut in staring down at her phone, "it must have worked…and that was a really close call."

"What! Why?" Kol demanded immediately.

Caroline looked up from her cell. "…because Finn is dead. They staked him."

"What?" A new voice interrupts from the doorway and Bonnie looked up to find a shocked Rebekah holding herself up against the frame. "Oh my god."

"Huh, so it really did work…" The witch muttered to herself only to be caught by twin glares from Rebekah and Kol. "Just saying."

Kol's face suddenly brightened a little. "Huh, so that means Sage is gone now too. Never did like the uppity bitch."

"Wait, what?" Caroline frowned and Bonnie agreed with her sentiment, not following that train of thought at all. Why would Sage be gone?

"When one of us dies," Klaus explained to Caroline, "their entire line dies. Everyone they've ever turned, turns to ash."

"But that would mean…"Bonnie trailed off, looking at Caroline fearfully. "Crap."

"The end of vampires completely – that was our mother's goal." Kol filled in but Bonnie was barely listening.

"Which of you is Caroline's line?"

Kol and Klaus looked at each other, silent communication passing between them before Klaus spoke up. "We'd rather not say."

Caroline gaped at him. "But-"

"As long as we all stay alive, which we will," Klaus glared, "It doesn't matter."

Bonnie huffed, unable to contain her annoyance at that answer. "Now love, don't be like that." Kol grinned and the witch found herself once again having to slap his hands away from her.

"Even if the spell worked, that doesn't change the fact that there's still ten more stakes out there that can kill us." Klaus was good at planning for every eventuality and you could already see the wheels in his mind turning to figure out what this meant for his plans, what his next course of action would be.

"Well," Rebekah interrupted, finally bringing their attention back to her, "I just so happen to have a Salvatore hanging up downstairs, why don't we go and ask him about it?"

"You what?" Bonnie couldn't hold in her shock.

"Which one?" Caroline asked simultaneously.

Rebekah smirked a little. "Which do you think? Damon of course – I wasn't going to let him get away with what he did to me."

Bonnie refrained from asking what exactly that was but did follow the family of vampires down the staircase.

"Why don't you go home, beautiful?"

Bonnie stopped in her tracks, staring up into Kol's chocolate eyes. "Why are you asking me that now? Because you think I'll try and save Damon?" She rolled her eyes, stepping around him and moving to join the others.

When she reached the walkway, her eyes met Damon Salvatore's, murky and pain-filled and she wished she hadn't come down at all.

"I know you, Miss Bennett." Kol commented, taking a place at her side once more. "You can't stand to see him in so much pain. You want to save him."

Indeed Bonnie was having a hard time. She had a decision to make and it wasn't an easy one. Every fibre of her being that was still whole, every last bit of goodness she had left in her was screaming at her to help Damon, vampire or not. But another voice reminded her that he had been the cause of her mother's death. He and his brother had left her mother's fate to a coin toss and she would never forgive them for that.

Kol took her chin in his hand, forcing her to face him in a manner almost reminiscent of when he used compulsion. He spoke clearly and carefully, making sure she was taking his words for what they were – an ultimatum. "Would you like me to take you home?"

Make a decision. Take a step towards Damon and whatever this is? It's done. And while she had no idea what exactly it was or what she wanted, she knew she wasn't ready for it to be over yet, not when she was just starting to evolve into something new.

Whether what she was turning into was good or bad, she didn't know, but she'd already tasted the forbidden fruit and now she couldn't go back.

"Take me home Kol," she sighed, letting him take her hand and pull her closer, taking one last look at Damon, where he was hanging before she left.

The disbelief in his eyes would be a nice addition to her nightmares tonight.

A/N: So while I'm back, I'm not quite back since I'm heading overseas tomorrow and I won't have my laptop. But hopefully you won't have to wait too long.

Let me know what you thought of Kol this chapter. I had the good fortune to meet Nate Buzolic a fortnight ago who plays Kol (a fellow Australian :D) so I feel like my brain is still trying to seperate Kol from Nate. Just in case any of you were wondering, he is an amazing person. I found him really inspirational. And hilrious too! :)