Brooke sat atop the brickwork at the front of the Salvatore home. Phone to her ear, she frowned before she spoke into it. "His name is Bruno and he doesn't know his surname. He's about seven, with brown fluffy hair...oh they hung up." The Salvatore grumbled, moving her phone away from her ear as she sighed in defeat.

It was as though nothing about Bruno or his family were on paper... and it absolutely baffled her.

"You'll have to teach me how to use those pesky phones." Natasha spoke up, exiting the Salvatore home to approach Brooke. The vampire gave the heretic a weak smile, "I'm having no luck with this kid." She admitted sadly.

"Maybe it's time to put this to rest, Brooke. Maybe a foster home will take him." Natasha suggested, sitting next to Brooke now. The blonde shook her head, "Then I feel like I've failed him..."

"I mean... he isn't your kid, you have no obligation to him. You're just doing the right thing because, that's what you do... but you've been going in circles for weeks... maybe it's time to put an end to this wild goose chase." The Petrova trailed off.

Brooke glanced away, thinking about Natasha's words, but stopped as she could see Bruno standing behind the glass, looking frightened by this conversation.

Quickly, Brooke got off of the brickwork and rushed over to the door to open it, as Bruno took a step back. "Hey, hey it's okay." The vampire quickly said, noticing how scared the boy looked.

"No, I don't want to go to foster care!" Bruno panicked. "It was just a suggestion, but we can talk about it." Brooke responded, trying to make sure her body language wasn't intimidating.

Bruno suddenly flicked out his hands, throwing Brooke across the room with force. It was in that moment the Salvatore realised that the young boy possessed magic.

"Brooke? Are you okay?" Natasha asked, approaching the Salvatore as the vampire got to her feet. Bruno, in a panic, used magic to cloak himself before fleeing the house.

"Bruno! No please, come back!" Brooke called out, before her shoulders slumped. "You forgot to mention the part where you're harbouring a witch." Natasha stated as Brooke looked to her blankly. "It's news to me too."

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

With Bruno missing, the Scooby Doo squad were called for help, though with the current Klaus situation, not everybody came to help Brooke.

Currently, Lexa and Bonnie were searching through the woods, while Natasha and Brooke were searching the falls. Lexa has taken Salem along with them.

"I hope he is alright..." Bonnie sighed, as Lexa seemed distressed. "Me too... poor boy must be so scared." She trailed off.

Walking through the forest, small animals hopped past them. "I wonder if Salem could talk to the animals.." Bonnie trailed off, catching Lexa's eyes. "I mean... what if they saw Bruno enter the woods?"

"Well... it's worth a try." Lexa admitted, "Salem." She called, as the black kitten let out a meow before he turned to face her. The Gilbert reached out to took Bonnie's hand in her own, to siphon magic, before she bent down to her pet cat.

Using magic, she tried to communicate with the small feline. Salem tilted its head at Lexa, confusedly.

Hoping the spell worked Lexa asked, "Salem, could you ask the forest animals if they've seen a small boy wandering through the woods?"

The cat's ears twitched, before Salem turned on his feet and started walking away, approaching some bunnies.

"Did it... work?" Bonnie asked, watching as Salem began meowing at the rabbits. One of the bunny's ear twitched, as the pair of small animals seemed to be communicating.

"I think so." Lexa confessed, seeming just as surprised. "You found a way to communicate with Salem! That's... incredible!" Bonnie blurted with a look of surprise on her face. Lexa's expression turned into a bright smile, "Okay... that is totally awesome.." She admitted to herself, smiling like an excited kid.

After the two animals communicated, Salem began to race off in another direction. "Salem?" Lexa asked, before herself and Bonnie raced after the fast feline.

After running through the woods for about five hundred metres, they watched as Salem approached a hollowed out tree stump, where a small boy sat.

"Bruno?" Bonnie asked, as the boy looked up, recognising his name. He had fear in his eyes, and quickly looked away. "Go away."

"It's okay, we're here to help you." Lexa insisted, "We're just like you." She spoke softly before Bonnie took the Gilbert's hand in her own. Lexa interlaced their fingers before she siphoned magic from the Bennett.

"Incendia." The witches said in unison, as flames exited the fingertips of their free hands. Bruno's eyes widened in amazement, that he'd found other people who could use magic like him.

"And I know what it's like to be scared and alone. I also tapped into my magic when I was a kid, and I didn't know anybody else like me." Lexa spoke softly, hoping to comfort the boy.

Bruno looked down at Salem, before the cat affectionately rubbed it's face against the boy's cheek as a sign of affection. Bruno let out a light chuckle, before he pet the cat.

"Cmon let's go, Brooke is worried about you." Bonnie spoke as Bruno glanced up at her with worry. "Is Brooke going to get rid of me?" He asked, scaredly.

Lexa and Bonnie shared a look, unsure what to say before Lexa finally said, "Brooke wants to help you find your family."

Bruno looked away, petting Salem before he looked back at the witches, though struggled to look Lexa and Bonnie in the eyes. "I don't have a family." He said sadly.

"What?" Lexa blurted, not meaning to sound so surprised. Bonnie bent down, and took a seat beside Bruno. "What do you mean, you don't you have a family?" She asked gently, hoping he could elaborate.

"I killed them." Bruno stammered, "I didn't want to kill them." He added, tears filling his eyes. "I... began using my magic... and my family were angry about it." He began to explain, not seeming comfortable to talk about this.

"It's okay, you take your time." Bonnie said to the boy, not wanting to pressure him into speaking. With tear filled eyes, Bruno glanced up at Bonnie. "My mother and father made my brothers and sisters tie me to a tree... and then they set me on fire."

Lexa's jaw dropped, as Bonnie's eyes widened. "Oh my god." Alexia finally managed to say, with an expression filled with disgust.

"I wanted to use my powers to stop the fire... but I lost control and hurt everybody." Bruno said, tears running down his face. "They all died... because of me."

Lexa looked down at the boy, as he had a face filled with remorse. She couldn't help but to empathise for the boy, knowing that as a small girl she was in the same shoes as him. She was terrified of hurting those she loved, as Bruno had been too.

"Why have you let Brooke believe that you have family out there?" Bonnie asked once Bruno calmed down a little. "Because..." He began, his eyes still glossy. "Brooke was nice to me... and I feel safe with her. I didn't want to leave her... so I thought if we kept looking for my family who aren't out there... I'd stay with Brooke for longer."

Bonnie glanced at Lexa, as the pair both recognised that Brooke was one of the only people Bruno had felt safe around... but also that Brooke and Bruno meeting, is what saved eachother.

Brooke was depressed and heartbroken upon losing Lexi, and Bruno was alone miserable after losing his family. They were two lost souls, and it seemed as though the universe threw them in eachother's paths for a reason. They needed eachother.

"Let's go talk to Brooke, I'm sure she'll understand." Alexia finally spoke up, as Bonnie agreed. Bruno hesitantly agreed, and got to his feet.

Lexa smiled down at the young boy, before Salem walked over to Lexa, instead catching her attention. The siphon bent down to pat Salem, who purred loudly.

Bruno reached out to grab Bonnie's hand, before the group left to go back to the Salvatore house.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

After meeting up with Brooke, she spoke privately with Bruno. Meanwhile, Lexa, Bonnie and Salem waited in the hallway.

"I gotta go... Salem needs food." Lexa stated, as the cat was curled up asleep in her arms. "And... I need food too." She admitted with a laugh, as Bonnie laughed.

"I'll see you later, love you!" Lexa called as she walked out the door. Bonnie smiled as her best friend left, "Love you too." She called back.

A few moments later, the living room door opened as Brooke was in the doorway. The Salvatore closed the door behind her, before she faced Bonnie.

"Hey." The vampire said softly, as Bonnie's lip curved into a small smile before she replied, "Hey."

"Thank you for today. I really appreciate it." Brooke confessed. "Is Bruno... okay?" The witch asked as Brooklyn nodded. "He's fast asleep... he um, told me everything." She confessed.

"I think I'm gonna adopt him." The vampire then admitted, as Bonnie blinked in surprise. "Really? That's awesome." Bonnie confessed as Brooke nervously smiled. "Yeah... I mean, he practically saved my life. I want to save his... Plus, I think Bruno Salvatore has a nice ring to it." The blonde added as Bonnie laughed.

"I think as a new witch, he'd be safest to stay here, where he has other witches around him like you, Lexa and Natasha to help him... if you're willing to." Brooklyn added, her eyes averting to Bonnie. Bonnie nodded instantly, "Yeah of course, whatever you need." She said genuinely.

Brooke smiled softly in response, keeping her eyes on the brunette before she had an idea. "Do you uh... want to stay a little while? I can make us some tea." The Salvatore suggested. Bonnie nodded, "Yeah... yeah, that'd be nice." She decided, as Brooke's smile widened.

A couple hours passed as Natasha walked through the living room, passing the coffee table that had some empty teacups sitting atop it.

Sitting cuddled together on the couch were Bonnie, Brooklyn and Bruno as the trio had been watching a movie. Bonnie had her arm wrapped around Brooke, as the vampire leant into her shoulder. Laying across them, was Bruno with his head on the arm of the chair.

Natasha smiled at the trio, as they looked as though they were one happy little family. It's all she ever wanted for herself, with Rebekah.

The heretic took a blanket, and threw it over the trio before she turned around to head to her own bedroom, but not before smiling at the scene one last time.