The bonds of family

47

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked. Arkyn looked a little downcast.
"I just- Mikael's back, and where Mikael goes, trouble follows."
"Mikael's in town?" Bonnie asked and he nodded. A dark expression settled on her face and she glared.
"It's okay. I think."
"He tortured you. He's the reason you literally can't feel pain."
"Bonnie-"
"I know he made you live out a billion different ways in which everyone you cared about died, and that he daggered you so often and physically tortured you for half a decade. He hurt you a lot."
"Bonnie, please don't. I really need you to not think up any revenge plots. Please, just don't do anything. Not to Klaus, not to Mikael. Not this time." Her expression softened.
"I'm sorry." She murmured. "I won't do anything."
"Thank you. There's a threat to Nik's daughter, and Freya has crucial information. The problem is, she trusts Mikael. If we alienate her, then Hope's going to be in danger."
"Got it. I won't do anything." She promised.
"I promised you a night out on the town. Where do you want to go?"
"I want to go dancing." She said. "Anytime we do anything that involves dancing, something bad happens. I want to change that."
"Dancing it is." He held out his hand and she grabbed it with a grin.

The next morning, Arkyn woke up to Bonnie playing with his hair.
"We went dancing and the world didn't implode."
"Imagine that." He laughed.
"I wish this was forever." She said softly. He didn't look at her, he couldn't bring himself to look at her.
"Me too." He eventually said.
"I know it's just for now, but can we pretend like it's forever?"
"I'd like that very much." This time he did look at her. "How long can you stay?"
"A couple weeks. Maybe a few months. As long as Caroline's staying."
"She's coming tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." His phone rang and he moved over to look at it. It was an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Take Caitlyn and keep her busy."
"What?"
"I need you to take Caitlyn away from me and keep her busy for the whole day or I'm going to kill her."
"Why, what's going on?"
"Come see for yourself, and come without the witch."
"Is everything okay?"
"Just hurry. And don't mention me directly."
"I'll be right there." He said.
"What is it?" Bonnie asked as he hung up.
"I can't be sure, but I think Caitlyn's driving her roommate crazy."
"So she called you?"
"Her roommate did. Either I get over there, or she's going to kill Caitlyn." He said.
"You should probably go."
"While I'm gone, can you do me a favour?"
"Sure."
"I need to know if Freya's telling the truth. If her story about Dahlia isn't just a fabricated story. I would very much appreciate it if you could try a lineage spell."
"Sure." Bonnie agreed. "I'll just go out and get what I need. All the witch stores are still available in the quarter, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then. You go save your one friend from death, I'll help your family out with a spell."
"Thank you." He said. He reached over, kissing her. "Meet you back here in a half hour? We can figure out some arrangements for when Caroline gets to town."
"It's nice of you to help her out. She told me you went straight to Mystic Falls when you found out her mom died."
"She's a good friend. It's my pleasure to help any way I can."
"Your mom said you knew how to help her deal with Bill because you had to deal with the aftermath of Mikael." Bonnie said softly.
"Yeah."
"I don't care if he's being helpful- he's still a monster."
"I know. But he's a monster we need." She nodded at that. He stood up, pulling on some clothes. "I should go."

Arkyn got to Caitlyn's home and knocked on the door. Caitlyn opened up.
"What are you doing here?"
"There's apparently a threat to your life if you stay here any longer."
"Ah good, you're here." Cassie said. She shoved a purse at Caitlyn pushing her out of the apartment. "Goodbye." She slammed the door.
"What's going on?" Arkyn asked as they began to walk.
"Cassie's turning into a mini Cami."
"Caitlyn, I'm going to need more than that."
"She's overprotective. She's acting like I didn't live on my own for over a year before moving back here. She's got it into her head that I'm a helpless damsel."
"Why?"
"Not seeing my future has really freaked her out. I think there's a story to it. She pushes me away when I try to push. So instead I asked if your ex is planning to kill you again and she says you're not going to die anytime soon. Not for a while. And then I said I was going to go see Jack again because, you know, we're taking things slow but it's still going and she was going to come with and then it escalated into a fight."
"You're not a damsel in distress, and Cassie knows that. She's just always relied on being able to know what'll happen. But now she can't see anything. She doesn't know anything and it probably terrifies her because it's not something she's used to."
"Well when you put it like that, she sounds sane." Caitlyn huffed. "I should go talk to her."
"No, she really needs to calm down. She called me, Cait. She wouldn't do that unless she had no other option."
"So what, I third wheel you and your murderous ex?"
"She's not murderous. Actually, I think she wants to kill Mikael, but she won't. I hope. Uh, I have an idea of what you can do. How's your Latin?"
"Limited to exorcisms and I guess I would recognise a few words that're similar to the English language."
"An exorcism?"
"I watch Supernatural."
"Alexis would love you."
"Your... what is she again?"
"She's like a daughter to me."
"Where is she?"
"She's a freshman in college, actually."
"Sometimes I forget you're actually old. So, why ask about my Latin?"
"How do you feel about going through some old spell books with Davina? She's looking for a way to help Kol. I'm sure they're not all in Latin, but there could be a translation spell she can do."
"Sure. Cami still doesn't know the truth does she?"
"I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to ask you to lie for me, but even if Cami did agree to lie to Klaus-if he found out, he'd feel betrayed. And when he feels betrayed, he's unpredictable."
"He won't feel betrayed by you?"
"Klaus and me... it's complicated."
"I'll help Davina, but what are you going to be doing?"
"I would like to know if my alleged new sister is actually legitimate. I'm going to try find out about her and our aunt."
"Does your ex know about Kol?"
"She thinks he's dead."
"Huh, so even you don't trust her."
"Cait-"