I swear I lived,

[elenagco]

kaipco

“A few days on an adventure that’s leading us god knows where, with a guy who literally popped up out of nothing, to save our best friend.” Her expression was expectant, meeting Elena’s gaze. “Please tell me we’re taking your car.” Caroline always did find the backseat more comfortable in her friend’s SUV.

“A few days and then we’ll have Bonnie back, Care.” The brunette knew that her best friend was skeptical about the entire situation, and she couldn’t fault her, but she thought it might help if she reminded her of the end goal. The thought of getting her best friend was enough to forget everything else for the moment. “We hadn’t really talked about it, but if that makes you feel better about all of this... I promise.”

[elenagco]

kaipco

A pleased smile rested upon the blonde’s delicate features. “I thought you were one, never going to ask, which would have lead me to two, forcing my hand.” Like a girl on a mission, she’s scooping her best friend’s hand. “We have some packing to do.”

"I know you, Caroline. Once you have your mind set, nothing is going to stop you. Invitation or otherwise." Laughing at the blonde, she nodded along and let Caroline take her hand. Not able to give up the oppertunity to tease her best friend, she couldn't help but say "Remember, we're only going to be gone a few days..."

[elenagco]

kaipco

“That’s the thing, Elena. If you really knew.. you wouldn’t.” There was a harshness to her words, and edge, but nothing too extravagant. As much as the barbie vamp wanted to fight her best friend on this, she couldn’t bring herself to. Not with this. “For Bonnie,” she agreed, voice quiet as a mouse – the aforementioned conviction long gone.. for that singular second. “I’m just not okay with the stranger and alone on a road trip part. Specifically, those two things together.”

“It’s not that, Caroline.” the brunette shot back, though she didn’t raise her voice to the blonde. She knew the vampire wanted the best for her, and cared about her well being more than she cared about it herself, but nothing she could say was going to stop her from following through with her plan. “For Bonnie.” At least that was one point they could both agree on and understand. She nodded at Care’s concerns, understanding them, and the only thing she could think to say was  “I can’t really help that it’s a stranger who knows where she is but... did you want to come?”

[elenagco]

@kaipco

"I know, I know." The blonde didn't even need to open her mouth for the doppelganger to know what was going to come next. "I shouldn't be going on a cross country road trip with a random guy I met at the hospital." Now that she was saying it, it did sound kind of crazy, but when had that ever stopped her before. "But this may be our only chance to get Bonnie back, and I'm not going to let this be the reason I never get to see our best friend again."

[elenagco]

kaipco

“In return for your forgiveness,” he said coolly, head cocking in a gentle manner as his eyes watched hers. He wasn’t backing down just yet. “I’ll think of something.” It was the little things like appreciating his help, offering something that even resembled friendship – even if it was just in the form of sharing skin care regimens. It was pleasant. Kai put little effort in hiding his growing grin. “I think this time, trouble found you.” His tone was light, fun. A glimmer of something behind his gaze. “Think it’ll be worth it?” It was a quip, a tease, and he looked moments away from a chuckle after stating his question. “Exit it is.” He figured he’d let her leave first, check the coast, and then slip out himself. There was a certain someone he would have to dodge to keep the situation stable. No more careless strutting through the halls. Then she’d turned around, interrupting his thoughts. His smile returned. “Kai.”

“My forgiveness is nothing compared to what you’re giving me, even if it’s only hope.” She wasn’t even saying it to inflate his ego, she simply saw what he offered as far more valuable than what she could. Forgiveness, as important as it seemed to be for him, was something she almost gave freely. Maybe it was a character flaw, or something else entirely, but hope, hope was something much harder to supply, and actually being able to possibly follow through? It was even better than gold. “Bonnie and Damon wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for me... you’re sort of like a savior giving me a chance to fix things.” she confessed, blushing gently as she shook her head and made her way to the door before she’d turned to look at him. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Kai.” she offered, waving to him before opening the door. “See you in a little bit.” With that, she wasted no time in hunting down the doctor she needed to see, hope in her eyes as she remained completely unaware of the mess she was getting herself into.

[elenagco]

kaipco

His mouth parted in mock-surprise. “Then I gotta do something special for you too.” Maybe he wouldn’t slice her throat. Depending on how everything went down, he might spare her entirely. He couldn’t make the same promise for Bonnie or Damon though. The fate of all three would depend on their actions, and whether they had their smart-thinking hats on that day. Then, just like that, another variable entered the mix. He should have foreseen it, surely. And perhaps it wasn’t nearly as deep as it could’ve been. “I don’t want you to get into trouble,” he encouraged her, finally letting his hand go slack to let her go on her way. “Where do you want me in the meantime?”

Now, she couldn’t help but laugh at his assumption. “You’re already doing something special for me. You’re giving me a chance to get my best friend back.” There she was, getting her hopes up again, but she couldn’t help that she could already imagine wrapping her arms around the Bennett witch and detracting Damon’s advances once more. It was this image that she clung to, it was the reason she was smiling like an idiot, well, that and the peculiar man in front of her. “You don’t have to worry about that, I have a way of finding trouble all on my own.” Trouble might as well have been her middle name by that point. “Well, you can stay here if you want, or you could meet me out by the main exit?” The doppelganger made her way to the door, well on her way to face her superior when she hesitated, turning around to face the witch, or well, whatever he was again, she asked “You could tell me your name though. It’s only fair.”

[elenagco]

Elena: So, I don't know if you have the same number, or if you're ignoring me, but I think I found a way to get Bonnie and Damon back.

Elena: I just thought you deserved to know

[elenagco]

kaipco

That brought a grin to his face. “Looks like a clock that’s been pulled inside-out.” He had to give her credit. Her best friend was a witch, after all. Taking things in stride was really the only way to go. “Soft hands,” he commented idly, but not apathetically. There was a glimmer of wonder in his gray eyes. The magic in her vampire blood was buzzing against the pads of his fingers but it did little to instill this kind of.. fascination. No. Kai was having too good of a time talking with the Gilbert. Winning was the ultimate goal, but the thought that they could repeat these types of interludes in between.. wasn’t the worst thing. “Portland, Oregon. Home sweet home.” His grin only seemed to grow. “Think the hospital could survive without you for a few days?”

“Duly noted.” She pictured the object in her head, and after being slightly confused at the idea of a broken digital clock being something magical in origin until she realized the ascendant probably looked more like a broken analog clock, and the pieces fit together. She wasn’t about to admit to her own foolishness, but the thought did bring a warmer smile. It was stupid, but his acknowledgment of her hands was enough to bring a blush to her cheeks, whether it was his intention or not. “When we get them out, I’ll share my secrets.” Teasing aside, she would have done anything for him once her friends were out, until then, well, she’d just have to write checks she’d fill later. “Yeah.” The hospital had been around longer than she had, and she had more than enough faith the place would be fine without her. Honestly, she was ready to leave the hospital that instant and get on the first flight to Oregon she could catch, and she nearly said as much until she remembered one vital detail. “Shit, wait. I have to tell Jo I need a few days off or she’ll have my ass. If she doesn’t kill me, we’ll be good to go.” 

[elenagco]

kaipco

Alarms went off the instant she took that extra step. It was a choice he hadn’t seen her making;an approach. Not only was it not necessary – he couldn’t figure out a single benefit – but he had gift-wrapped her a fairly solid reason to doubt his intentions. (His entire character, actually.) Kai was playing towards her desperation. What he got instead was something else entirely. This was.. compassion. Or at least, something that resembled it. This is what he imagined the word to look like. He felt her hand take his, and his gaze fell to the joined hands. Curious but not all that opposed to the touch. His eyes were quick to flash back upward, trained on hers with an unreadable coolness. Her words, much like her motions, were captivating to say the least. He could tell she still held reservations, but that did little to stop her from offering him that olive branch. Subconsciously, the siphon’s fingers even started to gently curl around ‘it’. “We’re looking for a mystical device called an Ascendant,” he casually chimed in, making no move to step away or slip his hand out from hers. He really didn’t get that part, and thought it best to leave the touching and the not-touching to her. “Last I saw of it was in the hands of my father. It’s our only way in or out.”

Closing the gap between them and touching him had been a risk, uncalculated and potentially detrimental,  but things went well enough. She watched him for any sign of discomfort, her eyes following his when they dropped to their joined hands and looking back up as he raised his head. Noticing his fingers start to curl around hers, she offered him a gentle squeeze and a smile to try and remind him that she meant what she said. He didn't linger on the issue, and neither did she, but she didn't drop his hand, at least not yet.  "The Ascendant. Got it." Not that the term meant anything to her, but it was a name at least, which is more than she had before. She'd find out more sooner later, she had a feeling he was going to tell her more about it sooner or later. Hopefully along with his name at some point, but she wasn't in any rush for that while they talked strategy.  "Okay, so, where was the last place you saw your father?" 

[elenagco]

kaipco

He didn’t feel the way she did. No, she could achieve the exact effect he was looking for. “I took the honest and open route with your friends, and it almost cost me my freedom.  I am not a good person – I know that. What I did was bad, for bad reasons… I’m not confused. It’s not that I think I don’t deserve to be in there. I’ll just do whatever it takes to ensure I never have to go back. I can’t.” Hopping off the counter, he stood in front of her. Hands at his sides, shoulders relaxed. “We get Bonnie and Damon out, and then we destroy the key to my cell. All we have to do is get along until that happens. Think we can do that?” he asked softly, a gentleness to his features as he looked deeper into her eyes. He waited for an answer, but that didn’t change his decision to tell her. Getting Elena Gilbert desperate enough to trust him was vital to this game he was playing. She was the perfect pawn in his game to getting the Ascendant, and their deal would be the beginning of his ultimate comeback. It could secure him safety from the dynamic duo he left behind, because he couldn’t trust that a Bennett wouldn’t eventually wiggle her way out. His gaze was unreadable as he prepared to speak his side of the bargain. “Eighteen years ago, I murdered four of my younger siblings.”

The vampire sat in silence and listened with a cool expression on her face. He wasn't a good person, then again, neither were most the people she knew if she looked into it too deeply. She didn't move away as he got off the counter and she nodded along silently to his suggestion. She'd get Bonnie back, he'd get his freedom from the prison, and they'd both get what they wanted. The question loomed as to what it was that he'd done that had earned him a one way ticket to another dimension, but she didn't have to wait long. What he'd done was heinous, and she was sure four years ago, she would have considered it something entirely unforgivable. When her world had twisted to become something she hadn't recognized, and in a lot of ways her morals changed to fit the new world she was living in. Four deaths was horrid, but looking back, four bodies was a far lower death count than those she had ignored in the past. Keeping her eyes on him, and watching his expression, the doppelganger took another unnecessary risk. She took a step forward and took his hand with her own and looked him in the eye and repeated "I forgive you." This time there was no ultimatum attached, and her words were kind and sincere. If he was looking for absolution, she was going to do her best to give it to him. "What you did was terrible, and you can't take it back... but you've spent years atoning for it alone. You've paid for it, and I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from me... but I forgive you."

[elenagco]

kaipco

He allowed her to sort some of it out verbally. There was still some of the story she didn’t know – a rather large sum, in fact – so he could see where she was stumped. It wasn’t her fault. What he didn’t expect, however, was her offer to be so blunt and.. certain. There was a desperation to it, surely, and that was typical for the situation. What made it unique was the calm way she presented it. It caught him off guard. “You have to pardon me.” This wasn’t one of the routes he had envisioned for this situation. The moment he caught sight of her name tag, he had begun planning thirty moves ahead. This was a sharp turn off the entire board, throwing away the rules. “Before I tell you why they wanted to damn me to eternity of solitude… before I tell you why my own family put me there in the first place… you need to forgive me for what I’ve done. Promise me a second chance.” There was no guarantee this was going to work, but if he was going to spring Bonnie and Damon from his prison, the truth was bound to get out. There were only two options – Elena hearing it from him, or denying the accusations outright. But considering the two locked away, he couldn’t imagine the hospital volunteer questioning their stories like that. Not against his, a stranger’s. “Clean slate for a clean slate.”

Plenty of possibilities crossed her mind when she'd made her offer, but his request left her momentarily stunned. It was peculiar to say the least, and despite her better judgement, she didn't wait for him to continue before airing her doubts. "You haven't done anything to me... I'm not sure I can give you what your looking for." That wasn't to say she didn't listen intently on the information he added as he justified his response. Bonnie and Damon hadn't been paranoid, there was a reason behind their decision, a reason so bad his own family sent him away to spend the rest of eternity alone. She tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible, but she felt her unease finds it's way onto her features. What had he done that had warranted not only her friends but his own family to forsake him? And why would he be seeking absolution from her of all people? It was a moment, but in the confines of the supply room it felt like a lifetime as she stared at the man. "If you promise to get them out, I forgive you." It felt like a cop out, but she nodded as if to confirm her own decision. Two wrongs didn't make a right, but saving two lives, giving back people their friends, and one their brother, back, it had to count for something. If only to her. "Clean slate for a clean slate."

[elenagco]

kaipco

His smirk gained a prideful curl. “Something like that,” he purred, feigning modesty with a wiggle of his head. She was starting to pick up what he was putting down, and he was getting a littleexcited watching her piece it together. It wasn’t much of a stretch to assume that this Elena was more than knowledgeable about the supernatural, seeing as she was dating a vampire and he best friend was a Bennett witch. Revealing himself to be a part of their world seemed like an important first step. “Very much not dead. Just tucked away for safe keeping,” he offered as fact, keeping the end of the statement open. “Which leads us into my next few pieces of news…” He had slowed his words, his posture relaxing some as he segued into this second part. “This place they’re in?  It happens to be a very difficult hole to crawl out of.” There was a pause, almost as if he wanted to read her expression before continuing – gauging the atmosphere. “To top it all off… your friends don’t like me very much. In all honesty, they were trying their damnedest to get out without me. Which answers the question of why it’s just me standing here…”

His comment perplexed her, but she didn't let herself dwell on the topic for too long. She had bigger things to focus on at the moment than details, those would all come out in due time. She felt a weight lift from her shoulders hearing him confirm her assumption, and in that moment she was so happy she could have cried. Death would have been finale, without the Other Side she wasn't sure what happened to their souls, or how they could have ever gone about resurrecting her friends, even with a witch who would be willing to do the spell. Well, a witch willing to do the spell who didn't have a twin brother to interupt. She waited anxiously as he explained the rest of the story, and the circumstances that brought him here and left them there. "That doesn't make any sense. Damon's an ass, but Bonnie.." Bonnie could be just as stubborn and bullheaded as Damon, and she knew it. Add in the trauma of dying and ending up who knows where for months, it was easy to see how they could make rash decisions. "Bonnie must have been confused." It was the explanation that made sense to her, and it was the explanation that made her feel better about the situation. The other possibilities were terrifying, and for their sake as well as her own, she had to think on the positive side. Now onto the harder thing, selling him on the idea of helping her get them out even if they did try and trap him there in the first place.  "Look, I'm sorry for what they did to you, and I understand if you aren't exactly keen on helping them get out but... I'd do anything for Bonnie." she started, looking up to look him in the eye. "She's my best friend, and I'll do whatever you want if you help me bring her back." With that established she took a deep breath and cut to the chase. "So... what do I have to do to make that happen?"

[elenagco]

kaipco

His grin only seemed to widen further at that. “You’re welcome.” The idea that she didn’t know how to take the comment did little to faze him. When her expression sobered, it mirrored in his own, and he’s watching her with a neutral – yet optimistic. Full off possibilities and life. “Because the Other Side collapsed, right?” he said instead of outright correcting her. No, that wasn’t his style. “You know, my coven used to communicate with our ancestors on the Other Side. It was a very simple spell.” A ploy, as that lead was headed nowhere – teasing her in the wrong direction. “Bonnie and Damon?  They just ended up somewhere new. Imagine.. a corridor. Whoknows what’s behind all of the doors down the hall, but they didn’t go through just any door, now did they?  No, no no. They went through mine.” He didn’t think much of her other comment. It seemed… relatively normal, coming from a girlfriend. Right?  That could be easily resemble normal self-deprecating behavior.

Up until this point she'd worked under the assumption that he was human, entirely unaware of the existence of magic or the monsters spawned from it, but as he questioned her, she realized she'd made a mistake. "How..?" Knowing about the existence of the Other Side was odd enough, but as he spoke her eyes widened just a bit as she put the pieces together. Coven. Other Side. Spell. "You're a witch." For once, it wasn't a question, rather a statement. That explained his knowledge of the Other Side, but it didn't explain how he knew it was collapsing or that Damon and Bonnie were there when it met its demise. She was going to press him further, find out what he knew, and what he wanted, but instead she found herself enamored as he explained his point. "They aren't dead...?" He gave her hope, and as much as she wanted to believe that she only wanted to move forward, she'd give anything to get her best friend back. "You know where Bonnie is." Her smile returned at the notion, building herself up as she knew she could be awaiting more crushing disappointment. She couldn't focus on that now though, she had to focus on the positives, on the possibilities. "Oh my god."

[elenagco]

kaipco

Finding the nearest flat surface, the siphon hopped up and made himself comfortable. Kai knew this conversation wasn’t intended for a short run. That played a large part into why he requested the room in the first place, not just because of the subject material. He gave an almost childlike nod to her first question, smile widening as he did so. “Mhm. It’s weird, putting a face to all the stories,” he added excitedly – his little legs swinging slightly in his seat. “You’re a lot prettier than I thought you’d be. I mean, not that he didn’t say you were pretty… but I wasn’t going to just take his word for it.” He made a thoughtful noise at her question – as if she had put him back on track. “We should probably start with Bonnie and Damon…”

Watching the man was entertaining in itself and all the more confusing. He seemed chipper and eager, not all that menacing but she knew better to assume. "Thank you?" Whether it was meant as a compliment or an insult was lost on her, but she tried her best to deal with it in the best way she could. Then he mentioned her best friend and Damon Salvatore and her smile started to fade again. Damon's loss had left a hole in Stefan's life, and while everyone felt the loss,  he mourned his brother's death, as far as she was concerned, no one else was missing him all too much. Bonnie on the other hand, she woke up everyday missing her best friend, and wishing she could be there with her and Caroline to have the life they were meant to have before the supernatural had to rear its ugly head. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this... but they're dead."  She felt like the air was knocked out of her in the aftermath of that statement as she swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall. She couldn't cry anymore. She was so tired of crying. "And if Damon was the one talking about me, I wouldn't really take his word for it anyway."

[elenagco]

kaipco

That wasn’t a reaction he expected. For coming into this situation feeling like the one holding all the cards, it was a bit of a downer to realize just how over-sighted that thinking was. Somethinghad sparked a change in her, something familiar, and he hadn’t the prior knowledge to decipher just what had switched the woman’s demeanor so effortlessly. His head cocked ever so slightly in curiosity, watching as she debated her next move. It didn’t seem to matter much, considering. The smile he offered was warm as he made his approach. “You won’t regret it,” he assured her, walking through the door’s frame.

You won't regret it.  If she was ever going to realize her mistake before it blew up in her face, now would have been the time, and yet she followed him into the room regardless, throwing caution to wind as she did so. Taking one last look before closing the door behind her the doppelganger looked over at the stranger. She crossed her arms, holding them close to her as she built up the courage to ask "So, you've heard about me." She was calm and as collected as she could be as she tried to remain calm and at least outwardly friendly to the man. "All good things I hope." That was added with a small smile as she struggled to hold herself back from accusing him of anything, at least while she was alone in a room with him. "What did you want to talk about?"

[elenagco]

kaipco

The corner of his mouth twitched up in a smirk at her coffee and sleep comment. A surprisingly endearing apology, effective in one-upping his own. It became increasingly clear that he was being rude; not only interrupting her rhythm, but effectively keeping her. He could only imagine the horrors that she was tasked with for the day and how oh so desperate she must’ve been to get back to them. Sweet, humanitarian Elena. Idly he twirled the badge between his fingers, flipping it right out of them in a careless manner – the lanyard falling back onto her form. “No, I can’t say we have. I’ve just heard.. so much about you.” And without much of a pause in-between, “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

Her smile dropped at his response, her blood running cold through her veins. Over the past few years, she’d come to fear being recognized by strangers because it usually spelled trouble. Correction, it always spelled trouble. It all started when Stefan Salvatore came to Mystic Falls with his brother Damon in tow, and now it seemed like trouble was following her even now. With his question looming, she knew what she should do, the last of all being go alone anywhere with him. She should have just reminded him she was at work, gone along with her duties and tried to push him to the back of her mind. This was a mistake. This was a bad idea. Maybe if her curiosity hadn’t gotten the best of her, she might have been able to listen. “Yeah...” Her attention turned away from him for just a moment as she located an empty room for them, quickly locating a supply room a few doors down. After she made her way toward the room, she turned back to look at him and grabbed the handle and opened the door. “We can talk in here.” 

[kaipco-blog]

He had barely grazed her, yet when they both rounded that corner, it was obvious just how narrowly they avoided colliding into each other. Blue eyes skimmed the woman before him before offering a curt, yet casual, “Sorry.” It was at that time he caught sight of a name tag – the red bar that read volunteer, the name that accompanied it. He catches the protected card between his fingers, bringing it up between them. “Elena Gilbert,” he read it aloud, eyes moving back up to meet hers. They were full of wonder and surprise. Amusement, even, to highlight the irony of it all. “My god.”

[elenagco]

Another day, another cup of coffee downed to try and keep up with the rounds she was assigned to help with. While the doppelganger was completely and utterly dedicated to following in her father’s footsteps, juggling everything was beyond exhausting, so it came as no surprise when a turn around a corner nearly ended in a collision. “No, I’m sorry. I really need to get some more sleep, or more coffee, or both.” Figuring that would suffice she was prepared to continue on his way, but then he grabbed her name badge and started scrutinizing it, and it became obvious she wasn’t going anywhere just yet. Looking at him bewildered by his comment and expression, the vampire did her best not to show her utter confusion. With her hands on her hips, and as friendly of a smile she could manage on her lips, she asked “I’m sorry... have we met before?”