A/N: I decided I wanted to contribute some fanfiction to the TVDverse and start from S3 since it's the best and my favorite season before the fans started running the show.

I Do Not Own The Vampire Diaries, the characters, the dialogue used in Season 3 or the music that I'm inspired by in the upcoming chapters. No Copy Infringement intended.


A New Deal Changes Your Suffering Part I

Elena is jogging through Mystic Falls early in the morning, when she stops and takes a break. She notices a man, and continues to jog, until it seems like he's following her. She takes off running, turning the corner of a fence and pauses to look for the man. Seeing has he's not there, Elena resumes her jog, only to suddenly turn around and run into the man.

"Excuse me." The man says panting.

"Don't worry about it." Elena says, both scared and confused at his sudden appearance.

"You have a nice day." The man says and goes back to his jog.


"I think I'm going crazy," Elena says to Bonnie, Caroline and I. "I'm totally paranoid. I thought the guy was following me."

"Probably doesn't help that there's always a cup of coffee in your hand." I say, stuffing fries in my mouth.

"It's decaf," She responds. "And it helps me stay alert. I need that nowadays."

"It also adds to your paranoia and makes you jittery. You said so yourself, you thought the guy was following you." Caroline replies.

"She has a right to be. Klaus is still out there and he knows she tried to kill him." Bonnie says. Mikael had thought he killed Elena, who turned out to be Katherine in disguise and while Niklaus was in shock, Damon had stabbed him with one of the white oak daggers.

"It was more of a team effort in my opinion." I say in response. I had just got back into town five days ago after I got a frantic call from Uncle Ric, telling me to get back to Mystic Falls. Elena and everyone else had been catching me up on what I'd missed and three nights ago, they'd tried killing a guy named Niklaus, who had apparently been trying to kill them in the year I'd been gone, to break something called the Sun and the Moon curse or maybe it was the Hybrid curse, I was still trying to get it clear.

At the end of my Sophomore year, my Mom was offered a nursing position in New Orleans, and since the tomb vampires were all dead and we didn't have to worry about anything else, I decided to go with her. They had intentionally left me in the dark 'cause they wanted at least one of us 'to have a normal live' as they put it. I was livid but understood their reasoning, but now I had to play catch up so I could help.

Bonnie looks at me slightly annoyed at the comment, while Elena throws me a smile. "Why hasn't he made a move?" She asks. "There's been no sign of him, just my slow spiral into insanity." She runs her hands through her hair.

"Join the club. Every time I close my eyes, I have that nightmare on repeat." Bonnie says, adding salt to the already open supernatural wound.

"Can't you dream about a hot guy or something? I've heard this story enough since I've been staying with you!" I yell. "Caroline, don't encourage her." But I know it's useless.

"The same dream?" She asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. Four coffins, Klaus is in one of them. It's weird." Bonnie says a little creeped out about it. And who could blame her?

"What if, it's not just…some dream?" Elena asks. "What if, it's like a witch dream?"

"I for one, hope the dream means Niklaus is going to be dead soon." I add my own interpretation to the dream.

"It's just stress, I'll figure it out." Bonnie says, closing the book on the weird dream.

"What about Stefan? Has there been any sign of him?" Caroline asks changing the subject.

"Sorry, I try to keep at least a hundred foot distance from people that betray us." I reply sarcastically. Before Damon could kill Niklaus, Stefan had rushed in and Niklaus taken the dagger and killed Mikael.

"Lexx is right," Elena admits sulkily. "He betrayed us. The Stefan that we know is gone." She sighs. There's always a chance we could get him back on the bunny diet.

"How is Damon handling that?" Bonnie asks, glancing over at Damon by the bar. Was that concern for Damon I hear from Bonnie? Caroline and I trade curious looks. I might have to keep an eye on this.

"Damon is…Damon." Elena sips her coffee.

"That means he's emptying the bar." I clarify.

"Caroline, your orders ready!" We hear Sarah shout. Caroline rises from the table.

"Well, I gotta go take my Mom lunch, I'll see you guys later."


"Come on, Ric. I can't drink all this by myself," Damon wags his eyebrows at the cute bartender behind the bar. "I mean, I can, but then somebody's getting naked."

"I'm busy." Alaric says not evening looking at Damon.

"It's the Eve of Klausageddon and you're doing homework?"

"This may come as a shock, but I am not here to hang out with you. I'm here to see Jeremy, who is an hour late for his shift." Alaric looks around for the him.

"Kids today, where are their values?" Damon asks sarcastically.

"That's his midterm paper," Ric shows Damon the 'F' written on the paper. "Copied it straight off the Internet, didn't even try to hide it." Alaric says disappointed.

"Ooh. Somebody's getting grounded." Damon says happily.

"Did you say you were waiting for Jeremy, as in Jeremy Gilbert?" The cute bartender asks.

"Yeah." Alaric answers back.

"He was fired last week."

"Guess you've been waiting for nothing." Damon laughs. He watches as Bonnie hugs Lexx and Elena before leaving. Where was she running off to?


"Jeremy, the minute that you get this, call me," She says leaving a voicemail. "Unbelievable."

"You're feisty when you're mad." Damon says sexily. We're in the middle of a crisis and you think now is the time to hit on her?

"It's not that I'm mad, I'm just worried." And she had a reason to be; Klaus knew she tried to kill him and he could go after Jeremy if he wanted to.

"Why, 'cause he lost his job at the Grill? I think he'll survive, Elena." Damon shrugs off her concern.

"I'm gonna need you to lay of the coffee, 'cause you're being paranoid," I take a sip from my mango peach juice. "He's probably off getting drunk somewhere."

"He's been spiraling ever since Bonnie broke up with him; he's been moody, not really talking to anyone." It reminded her of when their parents died.

"Elle, they were never dating, Jer just had a crush on her, which is understandable, but he isn't dealing with a lot of crap the average teenager is."

"Still sounds like a typical teenager." Damon still wasn't getting what all the fuss was about.

"Who's seeing ghosts and who's lost everyone that he cares about."

"Not everyone. He still has you." Damon throws a dart at the board.

"You okay?" Elena asks Damon softly. Picking up a dart and lining it up with the red dot on the board I throw it; it lands in the white area near the middle of the board. I decide to go get another order of fries.

"What makes you think I'm not okay?" He pulls the darts from the board.

"Well, you're day drunk. It's not exactly your most attractive look." Elena states bluntly.

"Oh. What is my most attractive look?" Damon gets closer to Elena.

"I'm not saying you have any attractive look, I'm just saying this is my least favorite one."

"Noted. See if I can make any improvements." He widens his eyes. On Lexx's way back from the bar, she bumps into a guy wearing a black denim jacket.

"I am so sorry! Are you okay?" I was so focused on getting back to Damon and Elena, I hadn't noticed him.

"Yes, I'm quite alright."

"Again, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," He nods his head and I make my way back to the table and sit down. "I forgot to get ketchup." I get up from my seat, when I see the guy from the bar approach us. I wondered what he wanted.

"Don't mind me." He smiles.

"Klaus." Elena calls bit shocked. Wait, this guy was Niklaus? He didn't have a British accent at the bar.

"You gonna to do this in the Grill, in front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?" Damon comes to stand in front of Klaus.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate," He explains." Get a round then would you, Tony?" Elena looks stunned.

"That's the guy I ran into this morning." She says to me. So it wasn't just paranoia then.

"I'm surprised you stuck around long enough for happy hour." Damon quips.

"My sister seems to be missing, need to sort that out." Klaus states in a threatening tone. We'll send you postcard if we see her.

"Cute, blonde bombshell, psycho?" Damon says, pushing me behind him. Klaus takes notice of this. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Truth is, I've grown to rather like your little town," He takes a dart from Damon's hand. "Thinking I might fancy a home here. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word." Klaus wraps up his big speech. Was he expecting us to buy this?

"What more could you possibly want?" Elena didn't know what else he could want, what else they could give him. Klaus walks in front her and points the dart near her face. No telling the damage he could do with just that.

"Well for starters, you can tell me where I might find Stefan." He steps closer to her. I see Damon open his mouth to reply.

"From my understanding, Stefan skipped town the second he saved you." Damon looked like he was on the verge of snapping Klaus' neck. Not like it would do any good, though the sound of his neck being snapped would give me great joy.

"Well that is a shame," Klaus picks up one of the darts and throws it directly in the middle of the board. "Your brother stole from me and I need him found so I can take back what's mine." Klaus speaks to Damon.

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem." Elena states boldly. This was a new Elena.

"Somebody isn't scared of the big, bad hybrid." I observe out loud while Damon steps in front Elena to block her from Klaus' view.

"Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart." Klaus says to me while smirking.


Bonnie enters the Old Witches house. She hears voices whispering. She goes down into the basement. When she enters, she sees that there are no coffins there like there were in her dream.

"Hello, Bonnie." She whips her head around quickly.

"Stefan," Wait, what was he doing here? "You followed me?"

"Yeah, wasn't too hard," Bonnie couldn't be sure if that was a threat or not. She was use to dealing with this kind of behavior with it came to Damon. "You should probably be more careful."

"What do you want with me?"

"Relax. I just need your help." She was right where she needed to be.

"Why would I help you? Elena said you saved Klaus' life, you killed Mikael." If anything she should be giving him a aneurysm. As a matter of fact...

Stefan clutches his head in his hands as he drops to the ground. "Klaus kept his family with him at all times...daggered!" He yells. Bonnie releases her hold.

"What does that mean to me?" Stefan tries catching his breath.

"He kept them stored in coffins. And now I have them, and I need you to help keep them hidden."

"Are you out of your mind? You're just gonna make him angrier." He shakes his head has he gets up.

"His family is his one weakness. As long as I have that, I can ruin him." Liked he'd ruined him.

"I don't have enough power to hide four Originals." What did he think she was, a endless power source?

"You're a witch. You hate Klaus. I know you can figure something out."


"So, you ready?" Alaric asks, cutting vegetables on the kitchen counter.

"Vampires, hybrids, and Originals, no problem. My rebellious brother…I'm worried." Elena says, setting the table.

"If handling Jer is still a problem after dealing with all that, something is very wrong." I joke.

"Proof she's still human." Alaric says as we hear the front door open.

"You're just in time, we're cooking." Elena says as Jeremy walks in.

"Sorry, just passing through." He heads for the fridge.

"What are you, a lone ranger? We haven't had a chance to catch up since I've been here." I say from my spot on the counter.

"Look, can we do this later Lexx?"

"Well, I thought we'd all stay in, have a meal together like a typical family," Jeremy raises his eyebrow. "Well a atypical family." Alaric rewords.

"Why?" He closes the fridge.

"Because you got fired and didn't tell anyone." Elena voices.

"Busted! Now sit down." I gesture to a seat at the table.

"I made plans with Tyler, he's right outside." Jeremy didn't want to keep him waiting. I'm starting to think you have poor judgment skills when it comes to people, Jeremy. Maybe you're too high to judge them.

"Wait," Alaric must've missed something. "When did you start hanging out with Tyler Lockwood?"

"I don't know, does it matter?" He was sired. To Klaus.

"In case you forgot, he's sired to the guy trying to kill us."

"You mean us," Jeremy corrects. "You've been gone the last year." And completely unaware of what was happening and didn't have to deal with the fallout of Katherine and Klaus' actions when they decided to use him and everyone else has leverage in their schemes.

"You know I didn't have a hand in that," How could he throw that in my face like it was my decision to keep me in the dark? "But you do in being friends with Tyler."

"Jeremy, he's dangerous." Elena says.

"He can still hear you, he's right outside."

"Good, that means he knows he's not welcomed here!" I yell at the front door.

"Besides, you of all people are going to lecture me on who I can and can't hang out with?"

"Elena usually hangs out with people who aren't sired to psychotic hybrids." I was on the verge of knocking him out.

"What is with the attitude?" Elena folds her arms.

"Whatever, this is lame. Tyler's waiting." He goes to move towards the door.

"Oh, no," Elena blocks Jeremy's path. "You're not going anywhere, especially not with Tyler."

"I'm with her on this, Jer," Alaric was putting his foot down. "Sorry."

"You want to stay in?" He could sped the day home. "Fine," Jeremy yells to the front door. "Let's all stay in then. Yo, Tyler, come on in!"

"Jeremy-" Elena starts to shout, but Tyler is already opening the front door.


Damon is pouring himself a glass of scotch. He senses something and turns around. Klaus is standing there.

"I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" Klaus loved that the Salvatores never locked their doors. Why would they when they were the things going bump in the night.

"I'd say we're overdue."

"Well, you've been so busy, what with all your plotting and scheming." And he'd come too close three days ago.

"You know me...never miss a chance to plan an epic failure." He'd lost the oak stake, he had another person to keep safe in the form of Lexx, and Bonnie was keeping something from him. He swallows the thoughts down with a draw of scotch.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," He descends down the three steps before coming to stand in front of Damon. "Who could have guessed your own brother would betray you?" He questions smugly.

"Well, I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you." Damon finds comfort as the smile slips for Klaus face.

"Yeah, well, she's fickle, that one," She would be daggered for the rest of his immortal life when he got a hold of her. "And you say you have no idea of her whereabouts?"

"That's the thing with younger siblings," He laughs. "You just... never know what they're going to do," He smiles and takes another sip. "Drink?"


"Thanks." Tyler says at the glass of water Jeremy gives him.

"This is weird; Klaus has hybrids stalking me, and now you're just sitting in our kitchen." Elena was feeling uneasy.

"Look, maybe I should go." Tyler gets up from the table.

"No, stay. You're not doing anything." Jeremy places the salad on the table. He's being a freakin' guard dog, only difference is now he can do it inside the house.

"Unless you have to, you know, check in with your hybrid master?" Elena asks with sarcasm.

"Even if you don't have to, you should leave anyways." I say from my position on the wall. If I even think he's gonna make a move, this wolfs banes knife is going in his hybrid neck.

"It's not like that, Elena." Tyler laughs. They just didn't get it.

"Tell me Tyler, what is the difference between being sired and being compelled?" Alaric asks with interest.

"Yeah, because they both sound like being somebody's bitch to me. What are you gonna do if he tells you to kill yourself?" Now I had peaked my own interest.

"Compulsion…that's just mind control, like hypnosis. And being sired is… it's like faith. You do something because you believe it's the right thing." Tyler explains, ignoring my last question. He should go explain this to Caroline.

"So, you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing?" Elena didn't buy that.

"I don't serve him. Klaus released me from my curse that was ruining my life, I owe him for that." Now he didn't have to worry about losing control and risk biting someone.

"You might lose Caroline, do you owe him for that too?" I leave my spot on the wall to step closer to the table.

"What if he asked you to…jump off a bridge?" Alaric asks Tyler, revisiting my earlier question.

"He wouldn't and even if he did, I'd be fine. I'm a hybrid." Tyler assures us.


Damon pours Klaus and himself a drink and hands Klaus one of the glasses.

"Cheers, mate."

"Down the hatch."

"You know, we've actually got a lot in common, you and I." They were both ruthless when it came to getting what they wanted and made no apologies.

"Really? Well, yeah, maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother," He was dead to him. "Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?"

"My family, the Originals. I had them daggered, boxed-up awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them. And he went in and pinched the bloody lot." He would be impressed if he weren't so angry that Stefan stole from him. He's not sure if it's the pull he takes from the scotch or the thought that leaves a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

"Of course he did," He had a habit of being unpredictable when he was on human blood. "Such a buzzkill, my baby bro. Well, I'd love to find him, just the trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for you." Stefan may have screwed them over, but he had the only thing that was keeping Klaus from coming after them and he'd be stupid if he gave the information up even if he did know where he was hiding the coffins. Klaus smiles haughtily.

"You know, your drink stinks of vervain, so I can't compel you. There'd be no point in killing you because you're actually the one with the most help of getting me what I need, and yet, it would seem a demonstration is in order," Coffins or not, he wasn't gonna bend to Stefan's will just because he had want he needed. Damon swallows tensely at Klaus' threat. "Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find, Stefan. Well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence. Why don't you take this as an example of my reach," He takes out his phone and calls someone. "There he is! So, that thing I told you to do...why don't you go ahead and get on with it?"


"Let's say the water is filled with vervain, that's gonna slow you down," I smirk. "Now what teen wolf?"

"Okay. So, what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" Elena was adding fuel to the mental fire we were building around Tyler.

"Again, he wouldn't." Now he was getting upset.

"What if he did?" Elena repeats, leaning on the table.

"I don't know, then I'd rip out my heart!" He yells and I almost miss Jeremy's phone ringing.

Jeremy looks shocked, while Alaric looks sad, but satisfied at Tyler confirming what he already knew. I can't say anything.

"You guys sound just like Caroline, getting freaked out over something you don't understand." Tyler says exasperated.

"You're right Tyler, I don't understand. Klaus has terrorized every single one of us, and you're just blindly loyal to him." Elena still couldn't understand his reasoning.

"You're overthinking it. I can still make my own decisions." Him being sired wasn't gonna change that.

"Until Niklaus says otherwise." I say sadly.

"What was that about?" Elena asks as Jeremy gets off the phone.

"It was nothing." Jeremy responds, taking a seat at the table.

"Um, thanks for the food offer, but…" Tyler trails off.

"You have to leave or did you sense that no one wants you here?" Whatever the reason, I just wanted him gone.

"Next time," Alaric finishes has Tyler makes his way out the front door. "Well, that was illuminating." Alaric says, making his way to the counter.

"No, that was a test that I almost failed," I say, making my way to the fridge. "Someone is testing my patience."

"So, Tyler Lockwood is a lunatic who has access to our house."

"Who knows? Maybe when a full moon comes, all invitations are void." I look up from the fridge to catch Elena smiling at me.

"I mean, this whole sire bond thing is wild. I don't even think Tyler's fully aware of what little reason lies behind what he's saying. It's-it's his weird cult logic." Alaric says, explaining Tyler's behavior.

"Well, great. That's a wonderful influence for you, Jer," Elena turns around to look at Jeremy, but he's gone. "Jeremy?"

"That's his ring." Alaric spots it on a plate.

"Where'd he go?" She puts the ring up.

"Better question, why'd he take off?" Following Alaric outside, we find Jeremy standing in the middle of the street.

"What is he doing?" Elena asks has she sees a car speeding around the corner. "Oh my, God." Elena starts running to from the porch to get to him.

"JEREMY GILBERT, MOVE YOUR ASS OUT OF THE WAY!" I scream as follow her.

"JEREMY!" Alaric yells, rushing past us.

"JEREMY! JEREMY, MOVE!" Elena screams as the car gets closer and he still hasn't moved.

Jeremy keeps standing in the middle of the street, not moving. Alaric shoves Jeremy to the side, before the car hits him, but collides with the windshield, rolling of the hood of the car, and lands on the road.

"Uncle Ric, oh, God open your eyes! Uncle Ric, you're gonna be fine. Just keep breathing!" I turn him over. Elena is there a second later, watching as the SUV comes back around.

"There I go again, bumping into people." Tony says, as he lets down the window.

"Well you better hope you don't bump into me, 'cause there's gonna be an arrow in your chest the next time you see me." I drip every word with malice and a promise as he drives away.

"He's gonna be alright," Elena reaches for Jeremy's face. "Are you okay?" He dart his eyes around frantically.

"I don't understand." Jeremy was still trying to figure out what had happened, why he was on the ground, why Ric was covered in blood.

"Alaric just saved your life! What is there to understand?" Tears were running down my face.

"Alexandra..." Had he done this, had he made her cry?

"Who was that on the phone earlier?" Elena asks.

"It was Klaus." Jeremy answers Elena a second later. He would recognize the accent anywhere.

"You were compelled, Jeremy. We've got to get him inside, help me." Elena says in a hurry.


"How is he?" Damon asks closing the front door.

"He's dead, but he had his ring. Now we just wait." Elena answers.

"Jeremy, why aren't you wearing vervain?" He couldn't smell it on him. "Where's you bracelet?"

"I don't know." You'd think he would know when he's being used.

"Don't worry," I assure him. "When we find it, I'll staple it to your wrist." I smile darkly.

"Lexx..." Jeremy lets his sentence hang, unable to say anything else. He didn't like her looking at him like he was the bad guy.

"Lexx, it was Tyler." Elena tries calming me down.

"He should know better than this!"

"I just didn't want him feeling like we were isolating ourselves from him," Jeremy explains. After he had didn't warn the about Klaus having hybrids at the Homecoming party and had shot Caroline with vervain to make sure she didn't get hurt, everyone was a bit wary of him. "He can't help being sired to Klaus."

"Your sympathy for the devil, just got my Uncle ran over by a car." His face takes on a defeated look as he leans against the sofa.

"At least now we know why he was hanging out with you; it was to get you off vervain." Elena turns to Jeremy.

"Klaus is trying to send us a message. He wants us to find Stefan, who stole his coffins full of his dead family members." Damon reasons.

"Coffins?" Elena eyes find mine. Bonnie's dream.

"Yep. So all we have to do is find four coffins and voila, no one else on your family's Christmas list has to die."

"Wait, that's your big plan," Jeremy gets up from his spot on the floor next to Alaric on the sofa. "To steal back four dead Originals, so this evil hybrid doesn't kill me and everyone else we know?"

"You're one to talk," I get up from the sofa. "Who invites the hybrid who's sired to the psychopath that's trying to kill us, wait, your dumbass!" I yell. He tries to take a step closer to me, but I wave him off.

"You got a better idea?" Damon gently pushes me back down to the sofa.

"Yeah. Let's get the hell out of here, pack our bags and go." He suggests.

"I understand you're beyond pissed at yourself, has you should be, but don't go acting impulsively." I warn him.

"You haven't been here in three hundred sixty-five days, what claim do you have?" I cock my head back.

"The last time you wanted to be impulsive, you found your way to a bottle of pills and swallowed it down with Anna's blood." I remind him.

"Let's just calm down here." Elena shakes her head to stop the flashbacks that are threatening to plague her mind. Jeremy's eyes soften as he lets out a sigh.

"I'm not that same stupid kid anymore." That kid was weak and didn't know anything that was happening in his town.

"And what do think running is?" I ask.

"Oh, you mean the same thing you did when you left town?" When you left me.

"No, I waited until the threat was gone instead of running away like a scared little kid who couldn't face his monsters."

"Jeremy-" Elena calls out.

"NO!" He was tired of this speech. "This happens every time, no matter what we do. You get on my case about school and work, who cares?" He walks towards the stairs. "None of us are gonna to make it out of this town alive." He had already signed his death certificate. I exhale a deep breath.

"He said he wants his family back." Elena had a determined look in her eyes. Don't say anything stupid.

"No. No, I know what you're thinking. The answer's no." Damon's voice was one of finality.

"If we give him Rebekah-"Elena starts to say. It would seem I was too nice to say 'stupid'.

"Yeah, then Klaus undaggers her and the first thing she does is kill you. Frying pan, fire. Not an option." Damon shoots down.

"Undaggering one-half of the crazy Original duo is not an option. We need to focus on the coffins." The same coffins Bonnie had been dreaming about.

"Klaus' coffins, how many did you say there were?" Elena asks Damon.