"Mia, please wake up." Caroline nudged the motionless body that lay beside her. "I have so much to tell you."

 It'd been many hours since Damon had snapped Mia's neck yet the Petrova girl showed no signs of recovery, it was as if she didn't want to heal. Waking up meant she would have to deal with all the troubles that laid ahead. Death seemed like luxury at this point, the Other Side looked like paradise and living felt like hell.

Mia's eyes fluttered open, she winced at the dull ache in her body, "My fucking neck hurts." she grumbled.

"Oh my god." Caroline threw her arms around the girl, almost suffocating her, "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too Care." Mia toyed with a lock of her hair, happy to see her best friend again, "I'm never leaving you again." She felt a slight breeze so she looked around, taking in her surroundings, "Why are we in the driveway?"

"Damon and Stefan signed the house over to Elena," Caroline explained, "To stop anyone unexpected entering. Elena has to invite you in."

"Can't we have one thing in this town that's just ours?" Mia huffed, although she didn't own the Salvatore Boarding house, it was her home and the thought of it being taken over irked her. She got up and stood in front of the threshold of the open door, "Elena!" she yelled, "Elena Gilbert, get your ass over here and invite me in!"

Elena appeared in the hallway "Hi, Mia." she smiled brightly, she'd missed seeing the Petrova girl, Mia had been almost like a big sister to her. "You can come in." 

"Thanks," Mia stepped into the house and made her way to the couch. She closed her eyes hoping for a moment of peace however there was little chance of that once Caroline started speaking.

"We have so much to fill you in on." Caroline took a seat next to her.

Mia held her hand up, silencing the blonde. "Wait, I'm too sober for this." she poured herself some bourbon and sat back, crossing one leg over the other. "Okay, continue."

Caroline and Elena had informed Mia of all the events she'd missed, she had to interrupt them every few minutes to try and process what she was just told.

"Hold up, you told Matt everything?" Mia questioned, wondering if her friend had gone insane. 

"Yeah." Caroline gave her a sheepish smile. "But it's okay because I compelled it all away. He won't remember a thing."

Mia filled her glass again, "And Isobel is dead? Like just burned in front of you?" Elena nodded, looking rather sad at the mention of her biological mother. Even though Isobel was on the wrong side, she was still her family, it brought back the memories of losing Miranda. The last thing Isobel said to her was "I was such a disappointment to you." Elena wished she'd gotten the chance know Isobel properly and have her prove that she was anything but a disappointment. 

Mia rubbed at her temples, "Can't you guys go one week without trouble?" She wanted to protect her friends but grew frustrated that they didn't make this job easy. 

Elena rose from her seat, picking up her bag, "We're gonna be late for school, you coming?"

"I'll catch up to you," Mia responded, "There's something I have to do first."

"You're gonna undagger Elijah aren't you?" Elena rose a brow.

"Yup," Mia drained her glass of its contents, "Then I'm gonna beat Damon's ass." 

"If it makes you feel any better, Stefan beat the crap out of Damon when he found of what happened." Caroline told her.

"It doesn't but thanks." It did. She bid them goodbye then made her way to the basement, walking along the corridor until she spotted Elijah's grey, slightly desiccated body on the floor of the cell. She unlocked the door and kneeled beside the Original, her hand hovering over the dagger, ready to pull it out.

Suddenly she was thrown back, her head hit the wall with a great force. "I wouldn't do that if I was you." she looked up to see Damon towering above her, anger carved on his face.

Grabbing the wooden stool that sat beside her, Mia smashed it against the wall, causing it to break. She picked up the makeshift stake and dug it into Damon's leg. "Go to hell!" His knees buckled and he knelt down, groaning in pain. Mia pulled the stake out of his calf and plunged it into his back. "He knows how to save Elena."

"He doesn't know dick." Damon sneered, "He just said that to get your trust. He's gotten into your head and you can't even see it. I never pegged you as weak, Mia." This outburst earned him another piercing with wood, his eyes steamed with tears as the splinters scarred his skin. 

He swiped his leg under Mia in one fluid motion, causing her to fall on her back. After taking a few moments to catch a breath they both got up and took a threatening step towards each other, only to be stopped by Stefan.

"Stop it!" he stood between the two, using his arms to block them from each other, "Both of you."

"She started it -" Damon began.

"- He started it!" Mia spoke at the same time.

"You staked me!" Damon snapped, pulling the wood out of his skin.

"You threw me against the wall!" Mia shot back, she touched the back of her head and felt the blood sticking to her hair.

"Will you guys cut it out." Stefan scolded, "We already have a lot to deal with, the last thing we need is the two of you trying to kill each other."

"She was trying to undagger Elijah." Damon retorted, "After all we went through to get rid of him, she's tryna bring him back." 

Mia rolled her eyes at his dramatics, "You're an idiot, you claim that you're doing this for Elena but the one person who knows how to save her is lying there with a dagger in his chest!"

"He was lying!" Damon shouted, "You said it yourself, he's Klaus' brother. We can't trust him."

"Well I do!" she walked towards Elijah but Damon gripped her arm harshly.

"I have no problem with snapping your neck again Pierce." she tried to punch him but he caught her fist, squeezing it tightly, "I'll lock you in one of in these cells."

"You're not gonna do anything to her." Stefan pushed Damon back, Mia tried to hide the smile that was creeping onto her lips. She gazed at Elijah and wondered if he could hear all of this. "Don't touch her again."

"I won't." Damon held his hands up in surrender, "Only if she promises to leave Elijah alone."

Both brothers faced Mia, she crossed her arms over her chest, sighing in frustration. "Okay, I won't undagger him. But don't come crying to me when Klaus kills Elena." Leaving both of the brothers in the cell, she went to her bathroom to take a shower and wash the blood away.

~~~~

"Hi pretty." Mia wrapped her arms around Bonnie, who was stood by the lockers. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." they spun around in each others arms.

"I heard you got stronger," Mia whispered to her, "Do you think you'll be able to take Klaus? And you have to be 100% sure or I'm not gonna let you do it."

"I can do it, I know I can." Bonnie reassured her.

"I just get worried about you." Mia pulled away from the hug, throwing her arm around Bonnie's shoulder as they walked to the classroom. "You push yourself too far sometimes. It's okay to say no to these guys. They can't expect you to be their little witch for hire."

"Unless they pay me." Bonnie replied cheekily.

"Honestly babe, they need to start." 

They walked into the classroom and took their seats. Bonnie's desk was in front of Mia's so she turned around. "So, have you got a date to the dance? It's tomorrow."

"Nope." Mia sighed, "I'm gonna have to go alone because you're going with Jeremy, Caroline and Matt are back together for like the 6th time. And Elena is going with Stefan. So poor Mia will have to go by herself."

"You can go with Ric." Bonnie teased as the teacher walked into the room.

"First of all ew, second of all...... ew." Mia grimaced, "What does Jenna even see in that guy? He's boring and ...... he keeps secrets from her. I could be a better boyfriend than him."

"You're just mad at him because of the Elijah thing." Bonnie sassed.

"Good, he has to make it up to me."

Caroline walked in late, smiling sheepishly when she saw she was the last one in. She scurried to her seat, next to Mia. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Mia's gonna date Ric." The Bennett witch joked, earning her a light whack on the wrist from Mia's pencil.

"First Mason, now Alaric." Caroline criticized, "I know you're like over a century old but your body isn't. Stop drooling over these old men."

"I'm gonna stop you right there Carebear," Mia held her hand up, winking at Bonnie who was holding in a laugh. "Never compare Mason Lockwood to that guy." she gave Alaric a dirty look, he was too busy fumbling with papers to notice. 

"Okay settle down everyone." Alaric called out, however it wasn't Alaric. His body had been taken over by Klaus, the vampire everyone feared. Mia and Elijah had found out Klaus was on his way to Mystic Falls but they didn't know when he would appear. He glanced at Elena, the main component to break the curse placed on him, was sat right there. "So, what are we learning today?"

"With the decade dance tomorrow, we've been covering the 60s all week." Dana spoke up.

"I hate school." Mia complained.

Bonnie turned in her chair again, "You barely show up, history is the only class you come to."

"I'm pretty sure history is the only class any of us show up to." Mia giggled. "I'm wasting my immortal life learning all this crap that I'm never gonna use. I just compel them to give me good grades anyways."

"Excuse me ladies, can we cut down on the chatter please?" Klaric requested, Bonnie faced the front again and rested her head down on the desk, bringing Mia into his vision. His breath stopped for a moment and he blinked in disbelief. It can't be.

"Sorry Mr Saltzman." Mia and Caroline spoke at the same time.

"It- it's fine." he stammered, looking down at the register, scanning the paper until he found the name Mia Pierce. Mia? My Mia?!  It had to be, same face, she still went by Mia. The only difference was the last name, he was told another.

"You okay Mr Saltzman?" Dana asked, snapping him back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he turned around and began writing on the board. "Right, the 60s. I wish there was something good I could say about the 60s..." he carried on talking whilst the girls started their own conversation once again.

"How old is Ric?" Mia inquired, "Like has anyone ever asked him?"

"I have no idea." Bonnie responded. "Not sure if I want to know, he hangs out with us way too much."

"Will you guys shut up," Caroline whispered, "He might hear you."

"Okay... and?" Mia laughed, "What's he gonna do? Give us detention?"

Klaric had tried his hardest to avoid looking at Mia, he knew the students would find it suspicious. 

Once the lesson had ended, Bonnie had left with Elena and  Caroline slumped in her chair, "I really don't want to go to gym class."

"Me neither..... I have an idea." Mia sang. "Just stay quiet, let me do the talking." They both got up and approached Klaric, his heart thumped as he watched the Petrova girl. "Hi Ric." she spoke sweetly.

"What can I do for you two?" he spoke, trying to focus on Caroline but his eyes would trail back to Mia.

"We need you to do us a favour." Mia batted her eyelashes, smiling innocently.

"What kind of favour?" he smirked.

"Well.... " she stepped closer to the desk, causing his heart to skip a beat. "Caroline's still getting used to her blood lust issues and we have gym next. And I'm scared she's gonna end up feeding on an innocent student."

"Ah, well we wouldn't want that." he remarked.

"No we wouldn't. So could you please write us a note saying we're doing extra credit with you so we can get her something to drink." He smiled down at her, she still had those eyes. Those eyes that could get him to do anything she wanted.

"Okay, I'll write the note." he picked up a piece of paper and began to write, "But only because it's you two."

"So you wouldn't do it for Elena?" Mia smiled.

He handed her the paper, goose bumps rising on his skin as their hands touched. "I'm not answering that."

"Thanks Ric." Mia beamed, his eyes lingered on her dimples. She grabbed Caroline's hand and left the classroom.

Klaric dropped down into his chair, trying to comprehend what was going on. "Bloody hell." he whispered, "What's she doing here?"

He looked out the window and watched the two girls stop to speak to a boy with blonde hair. Once they'd left Klaric knocked on the window and waved the boy over. 

"Hey, Mr Saltzman." Matt walked into room, "What's up, is this about my essay?"

"Take a seat please." Klaric leaned forward and stared into Matt's eyes, bringing him in a trance. One perk of having a powerful witch on his side meant that they'd found a way to make sure he still had his vampire abilities even though he was in another body.  "What do you know about Mia Pierce?"

"She's my friend." Matt spoke in an emotionless tone, "She moved here from Georgia, she lives with the Salvatores."

Thankfully, for Klaus, the human had forgotten to take his vervain that day.

"Why does she live with them?" Klaric scowled, "How do they know her?"

"They're family friends, their dads worked together."

Klaric rolled his eyes, realising he wouldn't get any real answers from a human yet he carried on asking. "What else do you know?"

"Her parents died when she was super young. She won a singing competition when she was 14.... And Caroline told me Mia has a crush on Stefan Salvatore."

The chalk broke in Klaric's hand as he clenched his fists, "Okay, that's enough. You won't remember any of this. Now go!"

~~~~

"28, 29..." Mia counted, Bonnie was sat on Jeremy's back whilst he did push ups on the Gilbert kitchen floor. "30! Damn Jer you're getting strong."

"I could go forever." Jeremy asserted.

"Well I can't." Bonnie moved and joined Caroline, who was sat on the counter. "Mia, come here."

Mia tried to hide her disapproval of them sitting on the worktop, it was one of her pet peeves, like shoes on the bed. Stop being such a grandma. She took a seat next to Bonnie, who was showing off her powers. She lifted Jeremy off the ground, spinning him around then dropped him back down, causing him to land on his chest.

"Ow," he mumbled against the floor, then sprung back up, "That was so awesome." A strange smell filled the air, "Is something burning?"

"Crap." Elena rushed to the oven and opened the door, pulling out what was meant to be lasagne. "I turned the heat too high." she wafted over it with a dish towel. "Great, what are we meant to eat now?"

"It's fine." Stefan massaged her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "I'll ring the Grill get something for takeout."

"You okay Ric?" Mia caught the teacher staring at her, he was leaning by the sink, "You're very quiet today."

"I'm fine lo-...... Mia," he turned around, pretending to wash the dishes so they wouldn't see his face.

"Hey Miss Mia." Damon walked in, "How are you?" when she ignored him he spoke again. "Are you still mad at me?" There was still no response, "Hello?"

"Bonnie, please could you tell Stefan's brother that I don't want to speak to him right now." Mia crossed her arms, looking away from Damon. Bonnie laughed and conveyed the message.

"Bonnie could you tell Katherine's descendant that she's acting like a child." Damon smirked.

This caught Klaus' attention. Katerina's descendant.... she's a Petrova? 

"Bonnie-" Damon started.

"Bonnie is not a messenger." The Bennett witch sassed, "You two clearly miss each other so just talk." she got down from the counter, took Caroline's hand and walked away, leaving Damon and Mia alone in the kitchen with Klaric, he watched them through the reflection of the window, his back facing them.

"She has no idea what she's talking about," Mia shrugged indifferently, "I don't miss you at all."

"I don't miss you either." Damon mocked. After a few moments of silence he ran his fingers through her hair, "Truce?"

She faced him, raised an eyebrow then looked him up and down. Although she hated to admit it she did miss him, that didn't mean she was going to give up on Elijah. "Okay, truce."

"Good, so...." he leaned forward on the counter, his hands barricading the outside of her thighs. "How was your little fuck fest with Elijah?"

What was she doing with Elijah? Klaus was grateful he still had his vampire hearing as the two were speaking quietly to avoid eavesdropping.

"Why do you wanna know?" she tilted her head to the side, "You jealous Salvatore?"

"Just curious. I've already had my night of the Amelia Petrova experience."

"Night is a bit generous don't ya think." Mia teased. "I don't think it lasted that long."

"Don't act cute." he edged closer, their faces inches from each other.

"Impossible." Mia beamed.

The sound of a glass shattering tore their attention away from each other. "My bad." Klaric flashed a fake smile, "Don't know my own strength." He put his bleeding hand under the tap and watched as the cuts healed.

"Lemme get you a bandage." Mia got the first aid kit and grabbed his arm, her eyebrow rose in confusion when she saw that his hand looked unscathed, "How did you heal?"

"I didn't get cut," he pulled his arm away and turned around, "Lucky right?"

"Yeah." Mia murmured quietly, "Very lucky." Why is he acting so weird today? She was almost certain that she'd seen blood, smelt it as well yet his hand showed no signs of injury.

"You wanna be my date to the dance?" Damon twirled her around, "I heard you're going by yourself."

"I'd rather go by myself than with you." Mia taunted, "Also you really need to stop coming to our dances, it's weird. You're at that school more than we are."

"Klaus will be there, he compelled a girl to pass a message to Elena."

"That's stupid. Why wait for the dance? If he's in town then he could literally just come here and kill us." 

"Well then he's not very smart." Damon picked her up, spinning her around. He placed her back down and cupped her face in his hands, "Come to the dance with me."

Mia noticed Klaric's jaw clenched, as she peered from the corner of her eye. She could see him through the reflection, watching them both intently. 

"Nope." she tapped Damon's nose.

He threw his hands on the air, "I give up."

"Finally." Mia exhaled loudly, "Couldn't you have done that weeks ago?"

Before Damon could think of a comeback, Stefan walked in, "We're going to pick up the food from the Grill."

"You're all going?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, there's one seat left."

"I'll come with, Andie's there and I need to speak to her." Damon grabbed his jacket, pointing at Mia. "I still need to introduce you two."

"Can't wait." Mia mused sarcastically.

They'd all left, leaving Mia and Klaric together, alone. She could sense that something was different about Alaric but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. After catching him staring several times and witnessing the incident with the glass, she knew something had to be done to confirm it.

She stood by the worktop, drying the glasses when an idea came to mind. She placed a glass on the edge of the counter and tipped it off, making it look like an accident. To her surprise, the teacher appeared in front of her, catching it before it could hit the ground. "Careful there." he handed the glass back to her, their eye contact remained fixed.

"Thank you." she offered a warm smile, causing his heart to flutter. "You're getting faster." she moved away and began to set the table, "Almost vampire like."

"Yeah." he breathed out, "Training's paying off." He caught the tone of her voice, sensing her suspicion.

Then it hit her. There's no way.  Alaric wasn't himself, the healing, his speed and the one thing that solidified her belief was that Alaric never did the dishes. However this wasn't enough she needed to be completely sure. "Hey Ric." he hummed a response. "You know how we were talking about Care's birthday, I was thinking we do it at the Grill instead."

"Yeah, that sounds good." he deadpanned. That was it. All the proof she needed, this wasn't Alaric. He would've known that Caroline's birthday was in October as it was the same day as his mother's. 

Elijah had told her many stories of Klaus, including when he would take over the bodies of others. His favourite trick as Elijah called it. And now he was here, in Mystic Falls, in the Gilbert house with Mia. Alone. "Um, I need to call Kurt." she stammered, trying to calm herself down, to avoid suspicion. "His boyfriend just cheated on him and uh.... yeah." She rushed away, exiting out the front door.

Klaric furrowed his brows, noticing that her mood had changed almost instantly. He looked at the calendar on the fridge and flipped through until he saw "Caroline's bday" in October. 

Clever girl.

Mia walked up the driveway, stopping at the mailbox. Her breathing quickened and panic instilled in her body. Her hands shook as she unlocked the phone, calling the first person she could think of. Each dial tone added to her stress whilst she shuffled on the spot. "Come on, pick up. Answer!" she pleaded, almost in tears. 

Until.... "Hi, this is Stefan, please leave a message." 

She knew she needed to tell him quickly, warning them not to come home. "Stefan.." she panted, her felt her chest tightening. "I think Kla-". A sharp pain entered her neck as her vision became hazed. "I thin-" she became aware of the sudden drowsiness creeping in and immediately fell unconscious, dropping into a pair of strong arms.

"Sorry, love." Klaric put the syringe of vervain back in his pocket. He picked her up, carrying her bridal style and took her to the car. "I'm not ready for anyone to find out just yet."

~~~~

Mia's eyes peeled open, there wasn't the expected ache in her body that would normally appear if she'd been vervained. Unbeknownst to her, Klaus had fed her his blood, in aid of regaining her strength. Her daylight ring was also missing and so was the knife she always kept on her person.

Klaus had used the knive to split a small cut on her wrist, so she would have to bleed the vervain out. It'd only just entered her system which meant he didn't have to wait long and the time she was unconscious for was more than adequate.

"Ah, you're awake." he moved to her, holding a glass of water in front of her face. 

She slapped the glass out of his hand, grabbed the letter opener that lay on the desk and pushed him to the wall. She leaned against him and pressed the blade to his neck.

"Well this is cosy." he smirked.

"Shut up." she snapped. 

"You can't kill me." Klaric stated, "If you kill me in this body then he dies too."

"I don't care about Ric." Mia scoffed. 

"But you do." he argued "I can see it in your eyes, you're scared." 

"Ric would understand, they all would." she defended, "That I did what had to be done." she dug the blade in deeper.

"Well then he'll die for nothing. If he dies then I can just inhabit another body." he glanced down at the blood trickling from the cut. "It'll have to be yours." he smiled, hearing her heart pound. "Normally I would never violate a woman in such a manner, but if you kill me in this body then I'm afraid I'll have no choice."

Mia stepped back in defeat, "Fuck you." she launched the blade at him, it snagged his sleeve, causing it to stick to the wall.

"Lovely." he grinned. She'd changed, she was different. Braver, more confident and sure of herself. 

"How long are you gonna keep me here?" she questioned.

"I haven't decided yet." Klaric poured bourbon into two glasses, he walked towards her offering one. "However, you'll be pleased to know that you're not alone. You have a roommate."

"Who?"

"Me." A voice spoke from behind. Mia turned around and saw Elena. Only it wasn't Elena, this woman had curly hair and this gleam of deviance in her eyes. "Zdravei Amelia."

Oh for fuck's sake. This was the first time she'd met Katherine, she had been avoiding her, for obvious reasons. Mia turned to Klaric in annoyance, "You know when you said room mate, I thought you meant someone other than a back stabbing, two faced, manipulative bitch!"

"Ooh, that's harsh." Klaric chuckled, "Nothing she doesn't deserve, I suppose. Now, I'll leave you two to get acquainted. I have to make it look like I got attacked whilst someone took you." he cupped Mia's face in his hands and looked into her eyes, compelling her. "You're not to leave this place until I tell you to." 

A soft gasp left her lips, "You.... you can still-"

"Yes, my vampire abilities remain intact." he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, "So I suggest you don't try to attack me again, hmm." He smiled then turned on his heel and left.

"Soo..." Katherine started.

"Don't speak to me Katherine." Mia flopped down onto the couch.

"I haven't even done anything to you." Katherine said flatly.

"You killed Caroline." Mia scowled, "You used Mason Lockwood, got Stefan trapped in the tomb and you're just a bitch."

"Please I did you a favour." Katherine snarked, "Now you have an immortal best friend, Mason was just means to an end. Stefan got himself stuck in that tomb when he walked in and from what I hear, you're not a total sweetheart either."

"Oh my god." Mia clapped her hands in anger, "You are such a cunt!"

"I really don't get why you're so mad." Katherine rolled her eyes, taking the drink from her and downing it.

"Just leave it." Mia shrugged.

"Tell me." Katherine demanded. 

"I don't want to."

"No, tell me. Tell me what I did to you that was so awful."

"It's what you didn't do." Mia muttered.

Katherine rose a brow, "What do you mean?"

"You..." Mia hesitated, she'd been holding this is for so long. She hadn't even discussed it with Caroline. "You tracked Isobel down, you reached out to her because she was a Petrova. But you never contacted me or looked for me, or even wanted anything to do with me. I don't get it. Was I not good enough?"

Katherine sighed, looking at the girl in disbelief. It never occurred to her that Mia would be hurt by this, if anything she thought she'd be glad. 

"It's not that you weren't good enough." Katherine stated, "It's that you're too good. You're not like me or Isobel, you don't look out for yourself."

"And that's a bad thing?" Mia quizzed.

"No, it's not bad. Just useless." she regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. 

"Right." Mia mumbled sadly. She didn't know why but she'd always craved Katherine's approval. She was the girl who kickstarted the Petrova curse, the one whose family put through hell, just like the rest.

"Okay, I'm sorry. That was mean." Katherine admitted, she saw herself in the young girl. Even though Mia wasn't a doppelganger, she was more similar to Katherine than Elena would ever be. They'd both gone through similar things, lost their child, banished by their family. And although the context of their situations were different, it still connected them.

"I did check up on you." Katherine told her, "1995, Georgia. You were in a club, dancing with a total hunk, who I found out was your fiancé. I asked around about you, they all said good things. That's why I didn't reach out to you. You're not a Pierce, Mia. You're a Petrova."

Mia's heart flooded with warmth, "So do you think we can start again?"

"Maybe." Katherine gave a slight smirk.

~~~~

The next morning Katherine and Mia were sat by the island in the kitchen, using their new method of communication.

"Ot kolko vreme si tuk?" How long have you been here? Mia asked.

"Vse oshte byakhte na vashiya maluk praznik." You were still on your little holiday. Katherine replied cheekily. "Toi nakara Isobel da me izmami." He got Isobel to trick me.

"Kakuv khui!" What a dick! 

"Budi tikh, toi mozhe da chue." Be quiet, he can hear. Katherine motioned to Klaric who was choosing what to wear to the dance.

"Taka?" So? Mia shrugged. "Ne e kato da mozhe da razbere......mozhe li toi?" It's not like he can understand....... can he?

"Ne, toi ne mozhe da razbere nito duma." No, he can't understand a word. Klaric piped up.

"You have to ruin everything don't you." Mia huffed, she sat on the single couch and began reading until she felt his lingering gaze. She looked up from her book and was startled to see him right in front of her. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, pulling up a chair next to her. "I'm just trying to read."

"Well you don't need to be near me to do that." Mia retorted, she edged away.

"You should try being nicer to me." Klaric whispered to her, "I'm not that bad."

"You're trying to kill Elena." she whispered back harshly.

"Come on, you haven't known her that long."

"Well I haven't known you that long and you want me to be nice to you." Mia mocked. "She's my family, you're the guy keeping me hostage."

"There are worse hostage conditions than this, love." Klaric remarked.

"Not when you want answers or information." Mia responded, a smile tugging on her lips, "I've read the mafia stories, I know how this goes. The guy tries to act charming and sweet so the girl forgets that he's the reason she's in the bad situation in the first place."

"And does it work?" he loomed closer, "In your books?"

"Only when the girl's a complete idiot." 

"But you're not an idiot," he sighed with mock sadness. "So the plan wouldn't work on you." 

"No, it wouldn't." she tensed up after noticing the close proximity of their faces. "You're very hard to take seriously with Alaric's face."

"Well I'll fix that soon enough. You should see-"

"Don't you have a dance to be getting to." Katherine cut it. Mia's head jerked in her direction, she'd forgotten the doppelgänger was even there.

"Yes I do." he grit his teeth, annoyed at the interruption. "Thank you very much Katerina." He rose from his seat, planting a kiss on Mia's hand, "I shall see you later."

"That guy is so weird." Mia expressed once he'd left. She wiped her hand against the fabric of the couch. "Going to a high school dance...... creep." As far as Mia and Katherine knew, Klaus was going to the dance to keep up the ruse that he's Alaric. What they weren't aware of was that he'd gone with the intention of killing Bonnie Bennett, she was going to be an obstacle in his plan so she had to be dealt with swiftly.

"Why don't we have our own dance here." Katherine waved a bourbon bottle in Mia's face, wriggling her eyebrows.

The two spent the rest of the evening drinking and dancing. Klaric returned to the apartment and found them slow dancing in each others arms. He could sense they were both inebriated and knew that would affect how they reacted to the news he was about to share.

Realising his presence, Mia peered over her shoulder, taking in his rugged appearance. "Awh what's wrong Klausy, did your little plan fail?"

"Bummer." Katherine pouted, she dipped Mia backwards whilst the girl erupted into a fit of laughs.

"The Bennett witch is dead." he spoke in a flat tone. 

The two Petrova girls immediately froze, Katherine's gaze shot to Mia, who just stood still in shock. She let out a shaky breath as tears welled up in her eyes, "Bonnie's dead?" she croaked. 

Klaric nodded, "She was trying to defeat me, she was a fool for trying."

Mia's eyes burned with hatred as she glared at the man. She staggered towards him, tears streaming down her face but she refused to let out a sob. They stood only inches apart, his heart felt weak as her lip trembled. 

Unexpectedly, she struck him across the face. Before he could process that action she began hitting his chest. Whacking her hands and fists against his body as she let out quiet whimpers. "I hate you!" Her anger increased tenfold when she saw his arms remained by his side, doing nothing to stop her. "Fight back, you bastard!" she shrieked, thumping him, "Fight back!"

She was yanked back by Katherine, who pulled her into her arms. "She was just a kid." Mia sobbed, "Does that mean nothing to you?" He stayed silent, looking at the ground as blood dripped from nose. She pushed Katherine away and went into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Her back pressed against the wall as her body collapsed to the ground. Mia let out screams and sobs, wishing she'd done more to protect Bonnie. Her dear friend had been taken from her, or so she thought.

Katherine's head hung low, she watched Klaric close his eyes trying to block out the sound of Mia's cries. Almost as if it was painful to him. The doppelganger hands began to shake as she feared for how he would retaliate. Not to her, but to Mia. 

It was one of the first times she was worried about someone other than herself.

                                               Chris Evans as Alaric Saltzman

A/N: HELLO MY DARLINGSSS. I hope you enjoyed that chapter.

Please make sure you vote.

It was quite long and I have COVID so if it's not good I'm blaming it on that.

There's a lot to unpack from this chapter so... what was your favourite moment?"

You may have some questions but I promise you... ALL WILL BE REVEALEDDD..... soon.

Next chapter will be "Klaus".

Drink water and read smut.

LOVE YOUUUUU.

Published: 1st March 2022