||act one||

"where is she damon? why won't you just let me see her. i know she probably won't forgive me, but i need to at least apologize for what happened."

kai's pleading words did not come as a surprise to damon as he parked his prized blue camaro in the parking lot of a cozy diner. he knew kai was unaware of the existence of his own daughter, and not only had damon grown rather fond of emerson and wished to protect her to the best of his abilities, he also knew cora needed to be the one to tell him kai had a daughter, and not him.

"sorry cobra kai, no can do," damon flippantly responded to kai's desperate attempts to have contact with cora once again after promptly taking the key out of the ignition. he shut the door behind him and started his walk to the entrance of the diner.

"can you at least call her? i need to hear her voice; i need to know she's okay," kai pleaded yet again with the elder salvatore to hear from his cora. kai was sure there would be a definite strain in their relationship, if they were even considered to have one at this point, but he still needed to know.

"sorry, well i'm actually not sorry, can't do that, parker." damon's tone signified the end of that current topic as he chose a table for the pair to sit at as they waited on a waitress to take their order.

kai sighed but let his yearn to talk to cora subside as he scanned the menu. deep down, kai was terrified that cora would want absolutely nothing to do with the self-entitled sociopath, though he couldn't exactly blame her for it. he had done awful things, things that seemed justified at that moment for him, but in hindsight, weren't.

damon went to take a call from alaric as he left kai to contemplate they events that had played out before his death. alaric informed damon that him, alongside the girls, were hunkering down at the compound in order to avoid coming into contact with kai. damon ended the call after having too much of alaric's disdain prevalent in his tone over brining bonnie into the situation. he didn't need a lecture.

"let's take a little break from social media, shall we?" damon reached out to grab kai's phone forcefully after alaric alerted him "cobrakai1972" had become active once again.

kai pulled away from damon in opposition as he continued his search. "nuh uh damon. i'm looking for cora's twitter, but it seems she blocked me." kai sighed and rubbed his temples, needing to hear from the forbes girl.

"yeah i wonder why," damon responded with sarcasm clearly evident in his words, "look, uh, she's okay. if that's what you need to hear. i guess you do really miss her." damon softened a bit as he became aware of the sheer desperation residing in kai's blue eyes. although damon had become somewhat protective over cora and emerson, he thought he'd ease kai's nerves a bit. if it would at least get him to shut up, he would do it.

kai's sigh of relief following damson's statement proved to work in easing the obvious tension in the air. "i regret what i did, you know." kai's words emulated uncertainty as he spoke them timidly. damon was more than surprised to hear these words leaving kai's lips. kai still clung to parts of his sociopath past, because his heart was still tainted with the abuse stemming from his past.

kai had thought long and hard, the opportunity presenting itself during all of those ill fated years trapped lonely within the prison world, about how he could be the one to break the cycle of abuse. he was sure jo would have, if he had let her and the kids actually live, but jo wasn't abused, no, she wasn't. he was.

he hadn't given much though to being a parent necessarily, but how (hypothetically) if he were to become one, he wouldn't abuse the child. he knew the irreversible damage that was going to be left with him through the rest of his life, and he wouldn't even wish it on his worst enemy. however, he didn't exactly want to become a parent, because even though he had thought these things, he was beyond scared that he would still mess up. he'd certainly had his fair share of screw ups already, but then again, what's a little more pain for kai parker?

"did you regret it when you did it? when you left cora scarred and alone? because that's what left her damaged. you did that," damon seethed, directed at the gemini witch. damon's blue eyes chilled as he delivered his words and added as much force and meaning behind them as possible. hearing these words, kai froze.

"i-i," kai's mind could conjure up nothing to fill the air. he didn't no what to say. after thinking he could break the seemingly never ending cycle, he had undoubtedly been the one to ensure it continued, and that hurt him beyond belief.

"yeah, that's what i thought," damon mistook kai's sudden lack of words for successfully catching him in the lie damon had accused him of. damon saw right through kai's supposed act. in damon's mind, kai didn't care, he never had, and he never would.

||act two||

"cora, i need you to listen to me very carefully, okay?"

cora had picked up her metal cell phone mere seconds earlier once she had seen bonnie's name flash across the glass screen. the agonizing time she had been waiting on any news from her friend had gotten to her.

"what happened bonnie." reluctance could easily be detected within cora's tone. all this time she had been pondering what could be wrong, but now she was unsure if she even wanted to know. truth be told, she couldn't handle it if it was any news of death or their problem with cade escalating just the smallest bit more.

"i-i don't think it's something i should really tell you over the phone," bonnie spoke into the receiver. she was handling the situation carefully, it seemed for cora's protection, that much cora could deduce. cora did not want to be handled as if she was a fragile china doll, and even if something were to take her seemingly fragile exterior and shatter it, she would take it. she had to.

"spit it out, bennett. i can handle it."

at this point in time, cora was desperate. bonnie knew that, she was just unsure of how to explain to cora kai was back. although, the allotted time he would be back was unknown or how he was even in their realm. bonnie always prided herself on knowing what to say at what time, but in this specific instance, she could truthfully say she was at a complete loss for words.

"you know with the whole cade deal he came out of hell, right?"

"sure"

"others might have, too"

"wait, what? who exactly, bonnie?"

the static being her only indication bonnie's phone was still on, cora repeated her earlier statement.

"who, bonnie?"

cora's words, pleas, were cut off as the phone went dead in cora's hands. the connection had been severed on bonnie's end. cora's visage indicated confusion as she looked down upon the device in her hands?

"bonnie?"

the attempted call didn't go through.

"oh bonnie, what is it this time," cora thought to herself as she held her head in her hands, desperate for answers.

a/n
this is really short, but i actually really like it??