Note: This two-parter attacked me about an hour ago, so now it's landed up here, in front of your eyes. Let's see how it goes, shall we? And yes, I wrote myself into TVD – in the most ridiculous way possible. (Un-edited.)

My Love Will Find You

Prologue:

Every horror story has its contextualisation; it's prologue, it's foundation for madness. The sturdier the foundation, the more promising the future of horror. Kai had a secret, like most of us do. It's a pretty big secret too, all things considered. So big in fact that he himself has forgotten it. I made him forget it, I made him forget me. I had to, he didn't give me much choice when he turned out the way he did; obsessive, psychotic, destructive – murderous.

His secret is his love of me. Well, the girl I was before he was taken away from me – by himself I should say…and this was before they sent him away…before he tumbled off into the unknown, alone… I watched the love of my life descend into madness, fuelled by an insecurity no love could soothe. No affection to quell. No amount of trust could dissuade. I suppose I only made it worse when I took his love for me away, but what choice did I have? Surely his ignorance would afford a semblance of bliss? However slight? He was already half mad, I couldn't leave him alone while he was loved as well…I could never abandon him that way. It doesn't make sense when I phrase it this way, I'm sure. It hardly makes sense to me. I know I had my hand in making him what he was today. I know that the moment he re-entered our realm that my fate was sealed. But it doesn't matter; I'm exhausted, mourning him, mourning myself, the lives we could have had…I know what I need to do and thanks to another secret of my own…a secret I have yet to mutter aloud…I am perfectly capable of fixing this mess he's worked up. Starting with that darling girl these people left behind to fend for herself. By the sounds of it she deserved most of all to be saved and yet she was the first thing left behind. I'll start with her. I'll save her…and then I intend to kill the man of my dreams.

A Pleasure To Make Your Acquaintance

The young woman stumbled through the empty alternate universe, sniffing, listening, sensing, until she found it; a fluttering, a sighing, a sniffling, a crying. A soft sadness that was reverberating through an impressive estate on one side of the town she'd opened her eyes to once the spell had taken effect. Using unnatural speed she skid to a halt outside of the home and looked up and down the door as if she expected her to be right behind its wooden expanse.

"Hello?" She called out. They didn't have much time – not that the spell wouldn't hold, more so that the world waiting for them wouldn't hold without them…Kai had already gained too much momentum, there was little breathing room for niceties such as these. "…Bonnie?" The stranger breathed a sigh of relief when she heard footsteps come running to the door and her onyx eyes glittered happily when the door swung open to reveal one Bonnie Bennett. The witch in question, whatever expression she'd worn upon her presentation had faltered, slipping into an almost comical confusion. The young woman smiled brilliantly and stuck out her hand. "Hello," she said, raising her brows prettily and wiggled her fingers to the shorter woman expectantly, Bonnie took a moment or two but acquiesced and they shook hands, "I'm Lana. It's lovely to meet you, are you ready to go home?" Bonnie blinked a few times and Lana watched as her eyelashes fluttered and Bonnie, for whatever reason, chose that exact moment to play dead. Rolling her own eyes, Lana stepped down, tugged on Bonnie's ankles until she was out of the door and then, easily, tossed the unconscious girl over her shoulder. "I suppose I am a bit rusty when it comes to my people skills, but that was simply uncalled for." Lana muttered as she turned and walked back the way she came.

Meanwhile

"I know you," Lana sang as she walked through Mystic Falls' streets, "I walked with you once upon a dream," she closed her eyes and lifted her hands as she danced with each step, her husky voice calling out to every supernatural in the vicinity, "I know you, that look in your eye so familiar a gleam." When she opened her eyes and none of them had arrived yet she huffed petulantly. She'd need something a little more ostentatious apparently, very well. She closed her eyes and muttered a spell and suddenly 'Panic Station' by Muse began to play loudly from no discernible location; the sounds blaring throughout the backwards town.

You won't get much closer 'til you sacrifice it all

You won't get to taste it with your face against the wall

She shimmied up and down the streets, pretending to play the guitar and strutting up and down as she mouthed along to the voice of Matthew Bellamy. Stefan was the first to arrive and she beamed over at him while she danced, wiggling her brows.

Stand up and deliver your wildest fantasy

Do you what the fuck you want to there's no one to appease

Walking over to him with an almost aggressive manner Lana stopped and lifted her chin a little so that they could lock eyes.

"You're brother, where is he?" As Stefan opened his mouth Damon spoke.

"– Right here." Lana spun around and clapped her hands excitedly, seeing that everyone else had come as well. The wolf, the Parker witches, a blonde vampire and of course…Kai. When Lana locked in on his face she watched the corner of his eyes tighten and she grinned.

"Oh good." With a snap of her fingers the loud music stopped and she watched in amusement as they all looked up and around trying to figure it out. "Well," she said as she looked between their faces with a cheeky smirk on her face, "Now that I have your attention let me introduce myself…" she walked away from Stefan and stood in the dead centre. With one blink she transported them all to the woods near the cemetery, where Bonnie was due to emerge any second now if her calculations were correct. "I know there is a witch you've all been 'trying so hard'," she snickered as she curled her fingers around the words, "To bring home and I want you to know that I got it right within like…an hour." She began to walk slowly in a circle ignoring the sounds of struggle when they all realised they were frozen where they stood, "Seriously, your attempts have been half-thoughts at best. Anyway," she said waving a hand to dispel her impending annoyance, "I'm just going to bull doze through the usual spiel I've seen you guys employ in your arsenal. The reason you're here is because I summoned all of you. The reason I am here is because of Kai. I'm here to fix the messes he's made, to fix it all – sending him to purgatory was obviously a stupid idea so I'll do his charming family one better and just kill him myself." She continued to pace as they struggled and spluttered, especially Damon, "Elena is currently under a cloaking spell not too far from here it'll take me ten minutes to release her and have her back to you, Bonnie should be here in the next fifteen seconds oh….and by the way. My name is Lana." She smiled brilliantly at them then, her sharp teeth glittering in the leaf-filtered sunlight as they all stood around her in a perfect circle, Kai's face murderous as per usual. "And you're all welcome."

Meanwhile

"Hey Bonnie," Lana groaned as she slapped the witch's cheek again as softly as she could, which still held an impressive amount of force, "You need to wake up now dearie. Can't take you home comatose now can I? The state you arrive in is the state you stay in little girl, so I'd hurry up the Sleeping Beauty act." Bonnie gasped awake and shot up, almost knocking Lana out in the process. Gripping the witch's shoulders Lana steadied her and gave her a measured yet amused look. "Good, you're up, now come along, I don't have all day."

"Who are you?" Bonnie stammered as Lana yanked the practically weightless witch to her feet. "How did you get here? Is Damon here?"

"Curious that he is your only concern," Lana commented, "By the way if you hadn't suddenly developed narcolepsy and no doubt smacked our introduction right out of your consciousness when you passed out you'd remember that my name is Lana and that I am here to save you." Bonnie jerked a little as they ambled through the woods, trying to get out of Lana's hold.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Bonnie asked, trying and failing to dig her heels into the ground. Lana snorted, amused as she kept her pace perfectly.

"This coming from a woman who has no one left to trust is unsurprising yet a little offensive at the same time. I travelled through time and space for you," Lana said, glaring at Bonnie over her shoulder, "I did what your loved ones failed to do; I did what you failed to do. You could be a little bit more open to the concept of courtesy if you ask me." She stopped abruptly and spun around to loom over Bonnie, practically black eyes into green. "Not that I need it, but a thank you would suffice and considering how unappreciated you are, you'd think you'd remember your manners." Bonnie's expression was that of someone who was both frightened and soundly chastised.

"I'm sorry, thank you." The witch muttered and Lana laughed.

"You're far too submissive Bennett," Lana said, her fragmented ideologies confusing Bonnie, "but that isn't my problem it's yours. All I have to do is get you home and kill the man I love." Bonnie's eyes widened. "Oh don't give me that look you want him dead as well."

"How could I possibly –"

"You've met Kai have you not?" Lana cut in. Bonnie paled. "Thought so…See why I knew you'd rescind that apprehension of yours? Now take my hands, we're out of time."

Welcome to Mystic Falls

Lana had just started humming and fiddling with the long ends of her dark brown hair when the portal opened and she turned and smiled at the whirring hole of bright blue magic before her.

"It's about damn time." She muttered, realising she was clucking her tongue at herself in essence. Everyone watched in dumbfounded, trapped awe as Bonnie and…another Lana stepped through the portal into the forest. The first thing Bonnie saw was another Lana waiting for her in the woods and her confusion mounted. "No need to fret poppet," Lana said as she walked over to herself and they merged smoothly into one person, "The worst is over as far as you're concerned." Bonnie gaped up at her. The witch took in the pale almost caramel colour of Lana's skin, her onyx eyes and long hair and her height and her curvaceous body housed in combative gear. She looked like an Amazonian warrior of sorts.

"I was just with you on the other side." Bonnie whispered and Lana nodded impatiently, a hint of 'duh' clear on her features. "How is that possible?"

"Magic my dear child." Lana half-sang as her eyes shone. "Magic."

"You're not a witch though…" Bonnie observed, "And if you are, you just so happen to be something else as well." Lana beamed at Bonnie and began to slow clap.

"A thousand points to the perpetually undead witch," Lana snickered, "How isolation has entreated you with wisdom." Bonnie averted her eyes, only then taking in her surroundings. She locked eyes with each person before they returned to Damon's face and everyone present saw the horror run through her.

"…What have you done to them?"

"Ensured compliance? These folks are a shoot first, wave later type of crowd and I like being alive…or this at the very least." Lana gestured to herself almost lazily. After a few moments Lana waved a hand and released them all, stepping towards Kai. "I suppose the fun stuff happens now."

"You took my memories away," Kai yelled, marching towards her, she didn't even bat an eyelash, flinch or do anything other than look profoundly bored as he proceeded to scream at her, "You knew they were about to send me away and you took everything from me, everything worth losing I lost before I even fell into the coven's trap." Kai was livid, a vein throbbing in his forehead as he stood practically on top of Lana. Everyone else stood frozen, captivated by what they were seeing. "…How do you still look the same, you're supposed to be older, a lot older."

"I'm dead Kai, keep up." Lana muttered and he jerked away from her suddenly like she'd pushed him.

"The witch working for you, who and where is she?" He accused and Lana laughed.

"Right in front of you my love." Lana's smile was lethal. "Tell me, how is it that I'm the terrible person for choosing to leave when I realised the only person I loved was a monster?"

"How the hell are you using magic if you're dead?" Kai asked, "And why did I only just remember you?"

"Because I let you?" Lana's tone was clipped and sardonic and she turned then to face their audience, "It's amazing what you can get away with when people see you as irrelevant." Jo averted her eyes, "What did you all expect?" Lana went on, "Surely if I fell in love with him," he jerked a thumb in Kai's direction, "There must be something wrong with me as well?"

"Is there?" Stefan wondered and Lana turned to him with a whimsical expression.

"Most definitely… are you going to bear witness to it, suffer from it? No. I brought you Bonnie back, you should be grateful and unsuspicious," Lana stated firmly, "In fact," shutting her eyes she muttered Latin under her breath and in the next moment Elena appeared beside her. As the vampire caught the gist of her bearings and made to run to Damon Lana yanked her back and spun the last doppelganger around. "So quick to assume that you're free," Lana hissed as she crowded Elena's space, much like Kai was want to do, "I want you to know something," Lana went on, "If you think that you can call someone family and treat them the way you treat Bonnie Bennett I assure you there is no hope left for you. Someone as selfish and gluttonous as yourself whose been rewarded for those very traits should be made an example of…I could have killed Bonnie and it would have made no difference to me, remember that," Elena opened her mouth to speak but a spark behind Lana's eyes silenced her, "I could kill you right here and now and it would make no difference to me either and no one could stop me. Not the ones you love, not the ones you pretend to love and most certainly not this bastard behind me." Kai huffed. "You should remember that you're not the centre of the universe child and that the world has loved before you and it shall do so long after you're gone." Elena swallowed. "Bonnie might bow down to the scraps you fling her way but me…I do not seek empowerment – I wield it. I will kill those brothers you've loved and I will haunt your brother, I will take everything from you and leave you with nothing but your insecurities for as long as you shall live and I'll do it with a smile on my face. Because that's who I am. I am as much a monster as the one I love and I am nothing if not more diabolical than he could ever hope to be. Where he consumed himself with revenge I consumed myself with knowledge and I've been itching for practice –" Lana's face was centimetres from Elena's.

"Stop." Bonnie half-begged, unsure what to do. Pulling back and smiling at the doppelganger Lana shooed her away and crossed her arms as she faced the group before her.

"You're awfully confident for someone who stands alone." Damon observed as Elena clamoured into his arms while he held Lana's gaze. Smirking the woman walked forward until she was an arm's length from him, his girlfriend and his brother, what an unfortunate sight the three of them made, destined to disappoint each other forever.

"You're awfully confident for someone so inadequate… uh-uh-uh," Lana waved a finger in front of his face when he lunged a little at her, "We wouldn't want to stain these shoes would we?" holding her hair out of the way she looked down at her boots, "They're brand new and I happen to be rather fond of them. Besides," she crossed her arms once more, "I know the girl in your arms now is no longer the one who love." Elena's lips parted in a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Damon what is she –"

"The witch, obviously." Kai interjected as he walked to stand beside Lana and she rolled her eyes and looked to him.

"Oh my god I know right," Lana muttered as she looked to her ex-boyfriend, "It's actually pretty nauseating how much he loves her."

"Tell me about it. At least you weren't stuck with them," Kai said as he mimicked Lana's pose, "Trying to sift through their sexual tension to suss them out was such a schlep." Bonnie stood beside Stefan, rigid with …fear?

"How was it by the way?" Lana asked as she eyed out Elena who was squirming under her gaze as she clung to Damon, "Purgatory I mean…Can't be worse than Oregon."

"You'd be surprised." They both stilled and turned to one another.

"I'm still going to kill you." They both said.

"–Like the second you turn away." They went on.

"Fuck you; I'd like to see you try." With that, they huffed and diverted their attention to Damon.

"You, Tall Dark and Bothersome," Lana said, "We need to talk." Damon sneered and Lana rolled her eyes. With a flick of her wrist Kai was suspended in mid-air, between swirls of gold and white phosphorescence, his eyes closed and his hair and clothes moving as if in a slow breeze. "…How about now?" He nodded but hesitated. "Yes," Lana said as if she could read his mind, "You can have you little reunion with the witch but don't dawdle." Waving her other wrist she sent away everyone else until it was just her, Damon, Bonnie and a comatose Kai. "I like him like this," Lana mused as she stepped under him with a giggle, "But the boy is trouble even in his sleep." Taking stock of Bonnie's expression Lana raised her hands and pulled a face. "I'll just be over here, pretending I'm not listening then…"

The moment Lana stepped a decent ways away Damon pulled Bonnie into a fierce embrace, it both startled and soothed her. Lana scoffed under her breath at their dramatics, pulling out a box of cigarettes and her zippo. Tucking a stick between her lips she raised the box and nudged the side of Kai's leg and he hung horizontally above her, snickering she lit her smoke and tucked her things away, leaning against a tree exhaling a plume of smoke as she watched the witch and the vampire.

"I'm so sorry." Was the first thing out of Damon's mouth and he looked over Bonnie's shoulder at Lana and she nodded and gave him a thumb's up. "I should have fought harder for you to get back."

"I'm back Damon, let's just move past it." Bonnie said as they both pulled away. His expression became annoyed.

"I'm not Jeremy; I won't shove things under the carpet because you ask nicely thinking it's for the best. We need to talk about this…do you think I want to, no. Do I think we should? Yes. So we're going to. We've spoken about everything else – why not this?"

"Because what good will it accomplish?"

"We both know that your definition of good couldn't be further from mine." Damon pointed out and despite herself Bonnie smiled.

"What do you want me to say?" Bonnie wondered, her brows curled with pensive apprehension, "That it all changes? Because of us?"

"And why shouldn't it?" Lana called out and the duo turned to scowl at her as she blew smoke rings. "Hear me when I say this, love and life are fleeting, no matter who or what you are. Savour the notion of want but don't let it stagnate. Who knows when Bonnie will die again Damon," Lana's tone was jarringly conversational, "Who knows when Damon's next enemy comes into town seeking vengeance and his pretty little head on a pretty little platter? You don't have time to dawdle. You only have right now. So have it together."

"…How did you know?" Damon asked. Lana shrugged.

"How could I be the only one besides the two of you who knew is the real question we should be asking." Damon pressed his lips together and nodded before looking back to Bonnie.

"No matter what you decide to do after this conversation you're doing it knowing that I love you Bonnie," Damon said seriously, "I'm in love with you and that's all there is to it."

Thoughts?