"But why does it bother you so much that I am trying to protect your sister from herself?" Damon asked, baffled. "I would be doing the exact same thing for you."

Addie tucked a pillow between her arm and head as she studied him, She had wondered but she had never had the nerve to ask. "Is that it, then? You wish I had become a vampire?"

"What?" he gaped, completely thrown off guard. "How could you even think that?"

"I -" her voice caught in her throat as her eyes began to burn. Sitting up she shook her head and mentally slapped herself. She was being stupid and she would not cry. Softly she said, "You should go; I'm still really behind on homework."

"No," he objected. He wasn't so blind that he couldn't see she was upset. His fingers reached for a lock of hair that fell in her eye but she flinched away from his touch. She didn't want him touching her just like he had stroked Elena's hair. Perplexed he murmured gently, "Ads, what did I - what's wrong? Talk to me."

"It's nothing, Damon," Addie snapped as she dropped into her desk chair. She picked up her copy of King Lear and flipped to a random page. With her face tucked behind the book she repeated, "You should go."

The tension radiating off her was obvious in her still posture. Creases formed in Damon's forehead as he tried to figure out a logical argument against whatever her sudden issue was.

"I'd rather not leave with you mad with me. The last time I did, you nearly died," he pointed out quietly. "Plus, you should still let me heal where Klaus bit you."

Addie mindlessly flipped a page as she chewed at her lip. Eventually she sighed, "I'm not mad at you."

It was the truth; she wasn't mad at him. She was only disappointed in herself. Their agreement was that they would stay together for 15 years. Damon had never promised her eternity. Even if she never wanted to turn into a vampire, it had been stupid of her to think that Damon might want that.

"Fine. You're not mad," conceded Damon. "You can't say you're not upset, though."

Addie lowered the book just enough to give him a piercing look. "I'm stressed. I missed a week of school and have a lot to catch up on. And, you know, Klaus can drink my blood now, so that's probably not a good thing. I'd really just like to do my homework and go to bed."

He didn't doubt that she was stressed but he wasn't sure that was all that was bothering her. At the mention of Klaus Damon's lips pinched into a thin line. The situation with him was definitely nothing good.

"Let me heal you and then I'll leave you alone," Damon bargained.

Addie tapped the book nervously against her knee as she studied Damon critically. Uneasily she asked, "Are you sure it will be out of my system by morning?"

"It should be gone in two, three hours tops."


"You're leaving," Elena asked as Damon descended the stairs.

"No," he muttered moodily, dropping onto the couch next to her. "I'm giving your sister some space."

"By sulking in her living room?" teased Elena. "You two really have issues with the definition of space."

Sharply he retorted, "I'm not sulking. And I'm staying here because she has my blood in her system. The last time I left her alone with vampire blood in her we got really lucky she didn't go into transition. I'm not taking that risk again."

"I could protect her, too, you know. I have the same vampire powers as you. You don't have to stay here like her guard dog," she insisted.

Damon rolled his eyes. "No offense but there is no way I'm trusting you to protect her."

"I died for my sister!" Elena reminded him in a hiss.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah but that doesn't mean you don't regret it or want revenge for it or blame her for driving the car off the road. You might not feel any of that right now but your emotions are all over the place and could change in a heartbeat."

"I would do anything and everything to protect Addie," she declared. Damon only picked at invisible lint on his jeans. Grabbing his hand, Elena gave it a gentle squeeze. "But you already know that. It's not me that you don't trust to protect her; you don't trust anyone to protect her."

Damon shook his head. How could he possibly trust anyone? Addie was almost killed by his best friend's psycho alterego. Then Klaus had ripped into her chest and almost killed her, twice. Elena and Addie had got into a wreck and that had almost killed her. Those were just the times she had almost died in the past three weeks.

He hadn't been there to protect her against Alaric but he killed his best friend to keep his girlfriend safe in the future. He wasn't there to stop Klaus the first time but he had come to her rescue the second time. Damon had been the one to figure out how to desiccate Klaus to protect Addie. And he had tried to kill him to further ensure her safety. Elena might have been willing to die to save Addie but she wasn't strong enough or smart enough to protect her from Klaus.

"Has Addie seemed a little… off since the accident?" Damon wondered. Perhaps it was all in his imagination.

"Off?"

"More moody, I guess."

Elena snorted, "It's Addie. Moody is kind of her thing."

"Yeah but-"

"Honestly, Damon, I don't really know. I've been gone half the time and my sister has kind of avoided me since i've been back. I mean, from what Jeremy's said, she's been more reserved and you know she spent a week out of school. I think she's just in shock from a near death experience," she surmised.

Damon supposed that was possible but he had specifically meant that Addie had seemed more jealous of her sister. He couldn't imagine why.

"That was pretty scary with Matt, tonight," murmured Elena, tracing random patterns on his palm. "I fed on him too much. If you hadn't stepped in I would have killed him."

"It's just a matter of learning to control the bloodlust. Like I said, I'll help you with that."


Addie sat in the study of the boarding house, working on her paper for US History. It was weird to know that Alaric would never be her teacher again. Her eyes strayed to the black case carefully laid along the couch. Weird was a rather relative term as she was working next to a mass of weapons Damon had collected. He had been particularly excited to show her the grenade launcher he had confiscated from the late hunter.

"So what is all of this?" Stefan asked holding up a stake with an elaborate carving.

Addie raised her eyebrows at him in mild amusement; he couldn't possibly believe she understood Damon's madness.

Entering the room Damon explained, "Personal items that I snaked from the vampire hunter's RV. May he rest in peace. I'm searching for a supernatural handbook." He shifted the box from his shoulder next to Addie's laptop on the table.

Damon had become convinced that instead of searching through all of Greek and Roman mythology, there was a shortcut to figuring out what Klaus wanted with Addie. Connor Jordan had been a special hunter. Klaus had identified Jeremy as a potential hunter. He had also stated that Addie was special because of what her brother was. It was possible that Connor knew what Klaus wanted with Addie.

Skeptically Stefan asked, "And you know for a fact that he was supernatural?"

"Definitely wasn't natural. The guy magically appeared just as someone bluws up the entire Founders Council. He's covered in a tattoo that only Jeremy and Addie Gilbert - of all the people in the world - seem to be able to see. Klaus mentioned something about him being one of The Five. Then he kamikazes himself with explosives. Sound natural to you?" Damon quipped back readily as he unpacked a Bunsen burner.

Addie pushed the burner and other hodgepodge junk he had pulled out of the box away from her. He was crowding her thinking space. She knew Connor Jordan was supernatural but it was always fun playing the devil's advocate and pushing Damon's buttons. Reasonably she pointed out, "Considering all the vampires and hybrids were outed to the town, it wouldn't exactly be surprising if someone from the council contacted an outside hunter to bring in the big guns, so to speak. It is highly possible that Jeremy and I hallucinated the tattoo. I mean, I'm definitely not the sanest person and insanity is genetic. Klaus could have just been screwing with you because he's just a dick. And considering you and Klaus were probably going to torture the him, blowing himself up probably seemed like the better option. It's entirely possible he was natural."

Damon scowled at her. "Aren't you supposed to be doing homework you should have finished last night?"

Addie stuck her tongue out and flashed him a cheeky grin before turning back to her laptop.

"What's The Five?"

"I'm hoping that's in the first chapter of the handbook." Damon halted in opening a box to answer his ringing phone. "Liz Forbes, my favorite sheriff!... What? That's...concerning. Keep me posted." Frowning, Damon tucked his phone in his back pocket.

Addie and Stefan both looked at him curiously. Finally his brother asked, "What? You're not gonna tell me?"

"Can't tell you," Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "We're in a fight."

"You're in a fight. I'm not in a fight. I'm over it; I've been over it," Stefan remarked coolly.

Damon raised a challenging eyebrow, "You're not still mad about Elena and me?"

"What happened between Elena and you?" Addie demanded icily.

"He let her feed on him."

Addie's deep blue eyes narrowed furiously. She knew she should have been more pissed off at him about that. But she couldn't argue about it anymore considering she had let Klaus drink her blood.

"I'm always gonna be mad at you but we're not in a fight," informed Stefan.

Nodding slowly Damon decided, "Very well, then. They didn't find any remains at the explosion site in the hospital."

A crease formed between Addie's eyebrows in confusion, "So, Connor is still out there."

"Apparently so," Damon grimaced, tossing the empty box to ground with a little more force than was necessary. Turning to Stefan he directed, "I'm gonna need you to get on this today. I have to take Elena to college."

The keys on Addie's laptop clanked loudly as her lips pressed into a thin line. She could have gone without the reminder that her boyfriend and her sister were crashing Bonnie's trip up to Whitmore with the specific purpose of eating people.

"I'm sorry; you have to do what, exactly?" Stefan asked incredulously.

Damon sighed dramatically, "I'm teaching her how to feed. She needs to learn how to snatch, eat, erase now more than ever." Stefan opened his mouth in protest but Damon quickly cut him off. "Ah, ah, we're not in a fight, remember?"

Broodingly, Stefan left the room.

"Why are you so upset?" muttered Damon to Addie as he pulled a journal off the table. "We agreed I was going last night."

"No, you stated Elena and you were tagging along with Bonnie and you didn't think it was a good idea to for me to go. We didn't agree to anything. Once again, you made a decision for me," she grumbled over her furious typing.

"Because we're gonna be vampires and sucking down innocent people's blood. I know you don't necessarily approve of that. The last thing Elena needs right now is someone being judgemental while trying to learn how to control the bloodlust. You could tip her off and she could end up killing someone," he pointed out sensibly. As long as he kept appealing to the rational part of Addie, it was likely he could juggle her emotions and training Elena.

Addie ran her fingers through her hair as she shut down the laptop. She definitely didn't approve but she couldn't really argue with him. Elena had nearly killed Matt the other night. And since animals and blood bags weren't an option, she needed to learn how to feed without killing anyone.

"I have to get to practice. Don't do anything stupid, please," she sighed wearily, packing up.

"I won't," he promised, holding up three fingers in a salute, "Boy Scout's honor."

Addie snorted, "I highly doubt you would have ever lived up to the expectations of the Boy Scouts' honor code. But you could promise to be on your best behavior."

Noticing the slight slump of her shoulders as she headed out of the study, Damon flashed in front of her. Her cerulean eyes went wide in surprise and she immediately began to open her mouth in protest; she hated when he used his vampire skills against her.

He cut her off before she could start, his lips firmly against hers. After a brief moment of shock, Addie began to kiss him back, her eyes closing. His mouth was soft and warm. His lips brushed hers gently, sending shivers through her. He tasted like toothpaste and coffee. She raised her arms to wind them around his neck, to slide her fingers under his dark hair, to lightly touch the bare skin at the nape of his neck. Eventually, reluctantly, he pulled away, leaving her breathless.

"How's that for a promise?" he murmured silky. Her lips pursed thoughtfully. He had a feeling Addie was more bothered that his day involved Elena rather than what they would actually be doing.

"I'm going to be late," she said softly, breaking away from his hold.

"Ads," Damon sighed as he gripped her hand tightly. At a lost for words he gave her a somber, apologetic look. He didn't enjoy doing things that made her uncomfortable.

Addie felt a twinge of guilt. She knew Damon didn't fancy the idea of being Elena's teacher but Stefan wasn't a viable option and Elena had insisted that she couldn't learn from Caroline.

"You're just going to teach Elena how to stop sucking down someone's blood before she rips their head off; it's no big deal," she stated matter of factly.

"It's no big deal," he reassured her.

"Actually, it's quite nauseating," Addie revised, nodding to herself.

Slowly pulling her back into his arms Damon agreed, "Completely repulsive."

"And there is absolutely no reason for me to feel jealous," she mumbled, burying her face into his chest.

Damon squeezed her tighter in silent comfort. There was a part of Addie that was eternally envious of her older sister but she had always had too much pride to outright admit her insecurity. He never expected Addie to finally admit her jealousy over a vampire issue, though.

"It doesn't mean anything," Damon vowed softly. Placing a gentle kiss on her temple he said, "I love you, Ads. You are the only girl I have ever truly loved."

As cliche as it sounded, her heart stopped and butterflies fluttered in her stomach each time he said those three words. Addie wondered when it would get old; she hated being a cliche.

"Hey!" exclaimed Damon when Addie suddenly jabbed her finger into his side. "Ow!"

"That did not hurt you," she snickered, pushing him away slightly.

"It could have if I was human. And here I was thinking we were having a nice, intimate moment," he pouted dramatically.

Addie rolled her eyes. "Moments are so overrated. Seriously, I have to go."

"Have a good day," he called after her as she quickly left the room. He picked up the journal from the table as he heard her return similar sentiments and began to flip through it.

"Hey, Damon?" came a soft, shy voice from the doorway a few moments later. He hummed in acknowledgement. "I love you, too."


Addie glared down at her phone as it rang. She had two missed calls during track practice and he had called again while she had been showering afterwards.

Knowing he wasn't going to stop she snapped into the received, "What do you want, Niklaus?"

"And good morning to you, too, Addison!" the hybrid answered jovially.

"I repeat: what do you want?" she glowered through gritted teeth. "I have to get to class soon."

Coolly Klaus said, "I was hoping we could talk about your newfound situation, preferably without your irrational bodyguard. Say tomorrow afternoon?"

Taking her backpack out of her gym locker, she slammed the door closed, hoping the loud sound would irritate Klaus. Spending time alone with him was definitely not something she wanted to do, especially since he now had her ready for whatever he wanted. But Klaus was persistent and he would get his way. He'd probably be a lot nicer about it if she went along with his game.

"Tomorrow is Saturday; it might be hard for me to slip away from Damon. But he's at Whitmore today. Would today work?" she offered.

"Ahh, yes. Your boyfriend went on a field trip to teach the girl who broke his heart how to be his vampire protege. I'm sure that will turn out well," Klaus taunted reflectively.

She resisted the urge to kick at one of the benches in the locker room. He always managed to make the situation between Elena and Damon sound so much worse than it actually was. Through gritted teeth she mumbled, "Does today work or not?"

"I suppose I can rearrange my schedule to make room for someone so charming," he replied brightly.

"I'll come by after practice."

Klaus tsked disapprovingly. "You run before school. You run after school. You ever think you do too much running?"

It was true that Addie ran a lot. From a young age she had learned that she was fast, fast enough to physically outrun her problems. Anytime her parents got into a fight or Elena went into a primadonna, diva mode or Jeremy picked on her Addie dashed away from the situation until she felt calmer and balanced. Ever since the tragic accident that had killed her parents, there was always some pain, grief, fear or turmoil that kept propelling her forward.

"Never. There's no such thing," she replied with a slight smile.

"If you insist, Addison."

The line went dead, causing Addie to roll her eyes in annoyance. She wondered if Klaus would ever learn the simple etiquette of saying goodbye.


The forest green door slammed shut with a loud bang as Addie got out of the Jeep. She had driven around for an extra twenty minutes minutes trying to get lose Stefan before giving up and heading to Klaus'.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the vampire asked sharply, catching up to her in a few long strides. His car beeped twice as he remotely locked it.

Walking up the long driveway she bitterly retorted, "If I wanted you to know I wouldn't have kept taking all those turns and driving twenty miles over the speed limit, now would?"

"Addie, you can't just go walking into Klaus' house!"

"I can assure you I can; I've done it on numerous occasions. My legs typically go in a forwards motion, I knock on the door, he answers. We really almost have it down to an art-form," she replied back smartly.

"Does Damon know what you're doing?" Stefan challenged, an underlying threat in his voice.

Halting in her tracks she looked at him incredulously. "A: Do you seriously think I would be stupid enough to tell him. He'd probably concoct another suicide mission. B: If you actually think I'm afraid of you telling him, you are really mistaken. I don't need Damon's permission to do anything, despite what he may think. C: We tend to do things the other person doesn't care for. He goes on adventures with my sister. I have little chats with Klaus. It's just how our relationship functions."

Stefan shook his head disapprovingly, "Things are different, Addie. Klaus can drink your blood now, whatever that means. I can't let you go in there; Damon would kill me."

"I thought you guys were not fighting," she mocked, using air quotes around the last two words. "You're never going to stop being mad at him for letting Elena feed on him. You could just even things out and let him be eternally mad at you for allowing me to flirt with danger."

"I could but Damon wouldn't be the only one mad at me for all eternity; your sister would be to. And, I would actually be quite upset if something happened to you."

Addie sighed impatiently, "Didn't Damon tell you to look into the The Five?"

"Indeed. And what better way than to interrogate the guy who mentioned them?" Stefan countered.

"Well, you'll have to get in line. I actually have an appointment with Klaus," Addie said pointedly, continuing up to the mansion.

After three knocks Klaus answered. "Addison," his grin faltered, "and Stefan. I thought we agreed to a private discussion."

"Don't blame me. He followed me here and came on his own volition," she grumbled defensively, slipping past the hybrid and into the house.

Klaus ran a long, thin finger over his lips thoughtfully before deciding to admit Stefan. "Very well. I suppose I can use assistance from both of you."


"Now, I've agreed to have a one-on-one conversation with Addison so why don't we get why you are intruding out of the way," Klaus demanded of Stefan once they were settled in the sitting room.

Stefan's fingers tapped restlessly against the armrest of the chair as he studied Klaus. "Connor Jordan's remains weren't found at the explosion site."

"That is an anomaly," mused Klaus with mild surprise.

"It's really not," Addie sighed in exasperation. "The only person who could have moved fast enough to move out of that explosion was you. You took the hunter with you. You have him alive, don't you? Or you tortured him until he spilled all his secrets and killed him in some particularly gruesome manner."

He gave her flattering smile. "So insightful. For now he remains alive. He has yet to tell me anything. Fortunately, I know plenty."

"Who is this guy? What's the Five?" inquired Stefan.

"So many questions," Klaus taunted.

Addie shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a good thing we have nothing to do today except get answers out of you."

"Fine. One of you might actually be useful in persuading my sister to cooperate." Klaus stared out a large bay window as he recalled memories from long ago. "The Brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters forged by witches in approximately 1100. We crossed paths with them in Italy approximately four years later. My siblings and I had followed the Normans as they conquered the South, feeding, turning people as we went. But with the bloodlust came exposure. My naive sister had an indiscretion with one of them."

"So these hunters have been around for nine hundred years?" Addie asked in mild disbelief.

Klaus nodded. "Apparently. Though, our friend in my… playroom is the first I've seen since then. Kind of makes you wonder what they've been up to all these years."

That was exactly what she had been wondering.

"And Rebekah had a thing with one of them?" Stefan posed, eager to get back to the story.

"Oh, she didn't just have a thing. She fell in love with the baddest of them all. He told her all his secrets. Which I will gladly share with the both of you provided you do one thing for me," bargained Klaus.

Addie sighed; he was always working some angle. "And what's that?"

"Get Rebekah over here. She's being stubborn and hateful. I-"

"You mean she's acting like you?" Addie interrupted.

Klaus briefly glowered at her before continuing. "I need to make peace with her. I want her to give me some very important information about the hunter, which she won't do unless she believes we've made up."

"What's in it for us?"

"Just get her here and I'll tell you."

Addie frowned in deliberation. Rebekah had strung up Damon in vervain soaked bear chains; Addie wasn't sure she wanted to make nice with her.

"Don't worry," Klaus said quickly, seeing the look on her face. "I wasn't meaning you."

Stefan shook his head. "I am not leaving her here alone with you."

"You sound as ridiculous as Damon," Addie grumbled indignantly. It was annoying everyone seemed to think she was incapable of defending herself.

"Perhaps not as bad. But, I assure you, Stefan, trust me when I say this: that hunter holds the answer to both of your prays," enticed the hybrid. Sensing the young man's doubt he smirked, "If I was going to kill Addison I would have done it a long time ago. I can assure you I have no intention of hurting her."


"You finally have your audience of one," Addie commented as she followed Klaus into a state of the art kitchen, sparkling with stainless steel appliances.

"Indeed, I do," he said as he opened the small refrigerator specifically for wine and grabbed a bottle. There was nothing scheming or disarming in the smile he gave her.

She leaned against the counter as he pulled two glasses off the rack above the counter. "Your audience eagerly awaits."

"Patience," Klaus teased. "You don't want to rush this."

The bottle gave a soft pop as he uncorked it. Dark, dense ruby liquid was poured liberally into both glasses.

"Walk and talk or sit and converse?" he asked, delicately passing a glass by the stem.

Moving helped keep her agitation and anxiety at bay. "Walking, I suppose."

Addie sniffed at the wine; the smell of black truffles, red fruits and cedar was extremely powerful. She had never tried wine. For some reason Damon never seemed to drink it so she hadn't either. It left a sweet, velvety texture in her mouth and was very different from the more earthy and dry whiskies she was used to.

"It's a 1959 Château Lafite Rothschild. I should have let it aerated for a while but it's still a good wine," Klaus commented, watching her take tentative tastes from the corner of his eye.

Klaus held open the door to the backyard and allowed Addie to head into the lush garden. He offered her his arm in a gentlemanly manner.

"What's going on?" Addie sighed, tucking her free hand into his elbow.

"Rebekah destroyed the last bags I had of Elena's blood," he answered, focusing intently on swirling the crimson wine around the glass.

Realizing the implications Addie breathed out slowly, "And now that she's a vampire you can't make anymore hybrids."

"It's not that simple; it's never been that simple."

When it was clear he wasn't going to elaborate she urged, "How can you make more?"

"For the longest time I thought there was only one possible option, should anything happen to Elena. Now, I have the opportunity to run experiments," he said cryptically.

A chill ran down down Addie's spine. Her voice cracked as she trembled, "You're going to experiment on me?"

He shook his head and look at her quizzically, "No. Haven't I always only worked towards gaining your trust?"

"That doesn't mean you're above experimenting on me."

That was true. He had every intention of using her as his test subject until the situation had dramatically changed. He wondered just how much had changed.

"I noticed the other day you took your nose ring and tongue ring out," he commented innocently.

That was definitely not a subtle way to change the conversation.

"Actually, the hospital took them out after the accident to do an MRI on my head when they were checking for brain death. By the time I woke up the hole in my tongue closed. My nose is still pierced but, well, the only reason I pierced my nose was because Katherine made me," Addie explained as they looped around the large grounds.

"Why would Katherine make you do that?"

"You are aware of her whole plan to get me to distract Damon with an end result of everyone being blind to her snooping around for the moonstone and planning to hand Tyler and my sister over to you?"

He nodded.

"In her opinion I looked too much like my sister, whom Damon was infatuated with at the time. Dying my hair purple, piercing my nose, a complete wardrobe change was all part of her plan to get Damon to notice me rather than Elena," Addie shrugged.

"So, you can thank Katherine for your relationship," he teased.

What Katherine had done had certainly brought her and Damon closer but there had been a preexisting chemistry. They had even kissed before Katherine got involved. Of course, Damon had then turned her down immediately after because it was inappropriate and said he was settling for Elena.

"I don't think I'd ever do that. Did I mention when she got out of the tomb she showed up naked in his room and tried to steal him from me?" laughed Addie.

Klaus snorted, "No but I believe it. Still, Damon wanted Elena first. It must be bothering you that he's out teaching her how to feed."

Addie took a sip of her wine, reminding herself that he was intentionally baiting her. "How do you know that?"

"I have my sources."

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Maybe it does; maybe it does. The blood, the feed…. It's easy to get caught up in it. Old feelings, lust, desire, they're so easily reignited." he replied airily.

She trusted Damon when he said nothing. It didn't matter what Klaus said.

Sharply Addie demanded, "Why do you always try to plant doubts in my relationship with Damon? You always suggest there is something between him and Elena. Or you always try and find some other way to come between us."

Klaus led Addie around to the front of the house, considering his answer. It wasn't that he wanted her for himself; at least he didn't think so. He wanted her to be available when he wanted to use her, something which Damon would not approve of but Addie was strong enough to make her own choices. Their relationship, though it had it's bumps and glitches, seemed to never truly be shaken and seemed to come so naturally for them, no matter what horrible thing Damon did. Why couldn't it be like that for him? No one seemed to have a never ending well of forgiveness for him like Addie did for Damon.

"Do you really believe you two are going to last? That he's actually right for you?" he scoffed.

"I know we're not going to last but he's right for me right now. Besides, that's really none of your business," she replied curtly, pulling her hand from the crook of his arm. "Surely my relationship with Damon and trying to cause problems is not what you wanted to talk about."

It wasn't but he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to put cracks in the foundation of their relationship. Klaus simply didn't want them to be together. It was no more complicated than that.

"You never thanked me for saving you," he commented, leading her back into the house.

Addie set her glass of wine down on table just inside the door. Her head tilted dramatically and eyes bulged as she stared at him in disbelief. "Let me get this straight; you want me to apologize because you ripped into me chest, causing me to almost bleed out and then shoved your blood in my mouth."

"I did call Damon to give him the opportunity to save you with his blood. It's not my fault he didn't answer," Klaus pointed out innocently. "Without my blood in you would have turned into a vampire."

"I would have had to make that choice because, again, you shoved your hand into my chest less than 24 hours after attacking me the first time," Addie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"That was Damon's fault for attacking me. I warned him that if he came any closer I was going to rip your heart out. You should blame him for taking that risk," he counter logically.

Addie had already considered that but she was tired of being mad at Damon for every mistake he made. Besides, Damon had a point when he had said that if Klaus was actually willing to do that, he would have done it the night before. She believed Klaus had been bluffing just as much as Damon had.

There was a sign of mild amusement as he continued to look at her expectantly.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she balked, "You actually expect me to thank you?"

"It would be the polite thing to do."

"No! If there wasn't this whole bullshit feud between you and Damon and you would just leave me the hell alone, that accident never would have even happened. My sister never would have been turned into a vampire because of me. And everything wouldn't just… just suck!" Addie cried, surprised at the volume of her volume of her voice.

There was a slight glistening in her eyes. He could hear her breathing and heart rate become faster.

"I don't care what you have to say," she mumbled, trying to move past him. "I just want to leave."

It wasn't what he had intended to talk to her about but it was what she needed to hear. He placed a strong, firm hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"What if I told you everything could go back to the way it was?"


"The hunter Rebekah was in love with told us a little about the Brotherhood of the Five," Klaus commented as he stood at the easel in his gallery. Addie sat across from him in an overstuffed lounge chair but he didn't need a visual image; he had traced her from memory several times. "They were five men bound by the fire in the last breath of a dying witch to a single cause: the destruction of all vampires."

Addie rubbed at her temples wearily. This supernatural world made less sense the more time she spent in it. "Since when can witches breathe fire?"

"It gets stranger," he warned, looking up from his work to give her a mischievous grin. "They claimed to have the ultimate weapon which no vampire could survive."

"The white oak? Been there. Tried that," she yawned in an imitation of boredom. "That is not the answer to all my prayers."

"The hunter did not speak of the white oak stakes but he is where we learned of the daggers and ash."

"You mean you favorite toys to use on your siblings when they start to annoy you?" Addie remarked snidely. After a moment she considered, "Do you think it would work on my sister?"

"Because she annoys you?" Klaus teased.

Addie shrugged, "I wouldn't keep her boxed up for 900 years like you did to Finn. Maybe just a couple days when she becomes particularly bothersome."

"Or thinks it's ok to run off with your boyfriend?"

"There is nothing going on!"

He shook his head, turning back to his drawing. "No, the daggers would kill a regular vampire. However, Alexander, that was the hunter's name, he knew we were the Originals thanks to Rebekah. In one night he and his brethren put down all five of us."

"But I thought the daggers don't work on you because of your werewolf side," Addie said, puzzled.

Klaus smirked wickedly, "They don't. When I woke I slaughtered all of the five to protect my family."

"Ok, so if you killed them all, what about this ultimate weapon which no vampire could survive? Wouldn't that secret die with them? Or did they just happen to spill that on their death beds?"

"A little bit of both. He knew who we were because Rebekah made herself vulnerable to him. Haven't I always warned you that love makes you weak?"

Sighing, Addie rolled her eyes. Damon and Klaus both loved to hear themselves talk. "Can you just get to the point? How is this supposed to make everything in my life not suck?"

"Alexander told Rebekah there was a cure for vampirism," he said, focusing on perfectly capturing the slight pout that Addie's lips always settled in.

"There's no such thing," she declared.

"There is."

Her arms crossed defiantly as she challenged, "Then where is it?"

Klaus frowned as he selected a dark blue charcoal pencil to color in her eyes. "Unlike Connor, the first Five had tattoos that were visible to everyone. Alexander revealed that the tattoo was a map to the cure. When I eliminated the Brotherhood of the Five, the marks disappeared from their bodies. When Katherine turned herself into a vampire I remembered the cure. I tried to search for potential hunters, wondering if it was a genetics relations. For 900 years, there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend showed up in town.

"I could never find anything rock solid to lead me to a hunter but I found information about what happened to the sisters of Alexander and those of the other original Five. They were involved in their own ritual with fire breathing witches. The legends of what happened to them were somewhat easier to uncover as I didn't cause a mass extinction. However, they quickly faded from history. The most recent re-occurrence I have heard of someone similar was of Madison Gilbert in 1864."

He noticed her pale as he switched to a deep red to color in her Mystic Falls Track & Field hoodie. "You know that name."

Madison Gilbert had been the ancestor Katherine had learned she could torture and heal over and over again until she was immune to all compulsion. Damon had admitted that he had partially joined the military to escape an arranged marriage that neither he nor Madison had wanted.

"Katherine taught her to resist compulsion," Addie mumbled. Suddenly feeling cold, her arms wrapped instinctively around herself.

"Yes, Katherine thought I might find that interesting when she was bargaining for her life. The truly fascinating part, though, was that Madison Gilbert was set to marry Damon Salvatore until he enlisted in the military. It was almost as if Madison was written out of history after that. Fortunately, Katherine kept up with her. Madison had an affair with George Lockwood upon his return from the war." Klaus stopped what he was doing and looked up in mock scandalization. "Can you believe that? With Damon's best friend!"

"There wasn't anything romantic between Damon and my namesake," Addie bristled. "Can you get to your point? Story time is becoming quite tedious."

"Fine. Madison ended up having George's child but the baby wasn't normal," he hinted suggestively. Klaus selected an emerald green and allowed her a few moments to figure out what he meant.

"George was a Lockwood; he would have had the werewolf gene. If he was in the Civil War, he undoubtedly killed someone. He was a werewolf," Addie reasoned under her breath. To Klaus she asked, "What do you mean the baby wasn't normal?"

"The baby only lived a couple of months," he answered cryptically. He wasn't going to give away the answer that easily. He had intended to when he had asked to talk to her but the timing wasn't right; he was too eager. "You see now why the cure is the answer to all your problems?"

Addie blinked slowly, trying to register the abrupt change in conversation. "If you use the cure on Elena you can go back to mass producing your hybrids."

"And you don't suffer the guilt of having ruined your sister's chance at a happy, fruitful, normal life. Being a vampire will destroy Elena," Klaus said darkly. On a brighter note he added, "Plus, you get your boyfriend back and Stefan gets his girl back. It's a win all around."

"The tattoo is invisible to you."

"But it's not to you. Or your brother."

"Leave him out of this," Addie growled protectively.

Klaus inhaled through his teeth as if it pained him to say, "I would if I could. Unfortunately I've seen your drawing abilities. Your stick figures are very similar resemblance to a Picasso. I need a Da Vinci. No, I need someone who can craft even finer details. I need a Michelangelo. I need the skills of your brother. If, at some point I need someone to compose me a symphony, I'll ask for your help."

"Jeremy won't help you. I won't let him," she seethed protectively.

"That's the benefit of the council burning up all the vervain in this town when they tried to stop us. Jeremy won't have a choice."

"He wears a vervain bracelet," interjected Addie.

"Which is easily removable. And," Klaus pulled a small, circular object from his pocket and held it up for Addie to see, "I don't think you want to intervene considering he won't have his ring to save him if I decide to kill him."

Confidently she called his bluff, "You kill him and you won't have your artist. You want that cure too badly."

"You forgot about the experiments I told you I am running. If I have to kill Jeremy, I will. I warn you, if it comes to that, you will have much more to regret than his death," he threatened ominously.

"Who are you hurting? Who are you experimenting on?" she demanded.

He gave her a patronizing smile. "Don't bother yourself with that, Addison. You don't know them. Most importantly, you can't stop me. I know you. You don't have to act like you want to play the hero to strangers at your own peril because it's the right thing to do. You're too selfish for that."

Standing up, Addie ran her hands over her face in a gesture that reminded her of Damon. It was true she was selfish; she didn't want to be a hero to anyone but her family and friends. It was all just an information overload.

"Why did you send Stefan to get Rebekah?" she uttered, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

"The map is only a map without the sword of one of the first Five to decipher it. Rebekah buried Alexander with his sword and I need to know where," he replied simply. He blew away stray dust on his finished drawing.

"Where is my brother?"

"I have him working on copying down the hunter's tattoo right now."

"Uh-uh. No interrupting the artist at work,"he protested, shaking a finger of denial in her face.

"Fine," Addie mumbled. Sometimes it was just easiest not to argue with Klaus.

Klaus checked his phone as it went off. Stefan was on his way back with Rebekah. Things would like go easier if the two girls didn't start a catfight in the middle of his epic plan.

"Addison," he said seriously, gently grabbing her face until she looked him in the eye. "No one must know about the cure, do you understand? Not Damon. Not Elena. Nobody. If this gets out, it could mean all our deaths. So, if you tell anyone, I'll erase each and every memory from the lot of you. Countries have gone to wars over less."

"Won't you have to tell Stefan? He won't work with you unless you do," Addie pointed out.

Klaus nodded reluctantly, "I will. It's just us three in this, Addison. Some secrets are stronger than family."

"Ok. I won't tell anyone," she agreed.

Reaching over to his easel Klaus carefully tore the drawing out of the sketchbook and passed it to Addie.

"That's just something for you to consider since you were growing bored with story time," he said mysteriously before slipping out of the room.

Addie opened the sketch and stared at in confusion. It was a perfect rendition of her sitting in the lounge chair in Klaus' gallery during their conversation, down to the way all her hair spilled over one shoulder and the hoodie she wore. Except there was one error; instead of a pair of legs she had a scaled, bright green tail stretched out in front of her. Just to make sure she wasn't going crazy she looked down at her jean clad legs and red converse; there was definitely an intentional flaw in the picture.


Addie chewed at her lips as she scrolled the Wikipedia page listing hybrid creatures in mythology. Unfortunately there were over 15 creatures listed as having a human torso and some kind of tail. Luckily she had eliminated nine as they were not creatures in Greek or Roman mythology.

So far the closest thing she had found was Lamia, who had a serpent's tail below the waist. Lamia was a mistress of Zeus, causing Zeus' wife to become jealous. In retaliation Hera killed all of Lamia's children and turned Lamia into a monster that hunted and devoured the children of others. Addie wasn't exactly sure how that connected to herself. Later accounts referred to many lamiae monsters, a creature Addie had stumbled upon when researching vampires in Philostratus's Life of Apollonius of Tyana. These monsters were beautiful women who attracted men to feed on their flesh.

Was Klaus trying to tell her she was some kind of vampire and she didn't even know it?

A loud knock at her door startled her and she slammed the lid of the laptop close. Before going to open the door she made sure to hide Klaus' drawing under her pillow.

"Stefan," she said in surprise. "I don't think you've been to my room in… ever."

"I just got done having a wonderful evening with Klaus and Rebekah," he explained, giving her a knowing look.

Addie nodded and opened the door further as an invitation for him to come in. Concerned she quickly asked, "Jeremy?"

"Downstairs playing video games. He doesn't remember a thing," Stefan reassured her, taking a seat in her desk chair. "Addie, I have to ask; are you really on board with this?"

She looked at him in confusion as she crossed back to her bed. "What do you mean?"

"Klaus was serious when he said you can't tell Damon about the cure. Can you do that? Can you lie to him?" he said pointedly. It made no sense to beat around the bush.

Sighing, Addie ran her fingers through her hair. That had been a question she hadn't wanted to face. Shrugging she admitted, "I don't see why I should have to lie to him. If this fixes everything, why can't I tell him the truth?"

"Because as much as Damon might want to fix things, he's still a vampire," Stefan said simply. He could see that Addie was still confused and continued, "I don't doubt my brother's love for you. Damon would move heaven and earth just to make you smile. He knows you feel awful about the accident and Damon, my brother, would do anything he can to fix that. But, deep down, Damon is still a vampire. The vampire in him will not want to turn Elena back."

Addie shook her head in lack of comprehension. "Why not? That doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe you should call Klaus," Stefan suggested uncomfortably. "He was actually the one who had to explain it to me. He was surprised when you didn't ask and thought it might mean you planned on telling Damon," he rambled.

"I've done enough talking to Klaus. Why would Damon be against turning Elena back?"

"He wouldn't; at least, he wouldn't think he was. His blood turned her, though. It's like… ingrained in vampire nature to protect your bloodline and carry it on."

"Damon wouldn't stop us from getting the cure," insisted Addie.

"Klaus thinks he might unintentionally sabotage us, which is something we can't afford. Addie, you know Elena needs this cure."

Addie dropped her head in her hands, "It sounds crazy."

Stefan laughed, "How much of this actually makes sense to you?"

"None of it," she admitted, joining in his laughter. It was all just so absurd.


The scalding water beat down Damon's bare skin from all directions as he tried to wash off the scent of cheap booze and cheap perfume. He had given up trying to wash away the shame and self-loathing thirty minutes into his boiling shower. Getting rid of those feelings was going to take a lot more than soap.

The day had been so much worse than he had anticipated. At the same time it had somehow been better. There was that brief time where he had just let all his cares and worries go and got lost in the crappy music, crappy beer, and frenzy of fresh blood. He had danced with girls, including Elena, getting high off blood and alcohol. And then the thrill of the feed wore off and the buzz of the alcohol faded and reality came crashing in.

The shower had turned cold by the time Damon came out of his thoughts and had the sense to get out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed a smaller one for his hair. He rubbed the cloth against his dark locks until they were just slightly damp; he knew his hair would be a nightmare in the morning but he would deal with it then.

"I'm definitely dating the sexiest guy in the world," came a sweet, awestruck voice from his from.

"I knew you only wanted me for my body," Damon teased as he continued to dry his chest and back. He hadn't heard her come in. His stomached churned unnervingly; was this what it felt like to be nauseous? He could remember.

"I mean, that's like only 100% of the reason," Addie smirked at him as he entered the bedroom.

His mouth went dry as he took in her tight, bright red camisole and extremely short pajama bottoms. He could freely admit to himself that he found her irresistible dressed down in his boxers and shirts for almost entirely possessive reasons; Addie would probably object to that on feminist grounds. However, when she wore her own clothes and actually revealed her curves instead of hiding them… well, he could be revert to a guy with a very simple mind. Unfortunately, Addie probably wasn't going to want him to touch her after he told her about his night.

"Well, I am definitely dating the most beautiful woman ever," he said, licking his lips.

"For my body?" she quipped.

He shook his head. "No. There are about a million reasons I love you and why I consider you to be the most beautiful woman ever but your physical beauty is just a bonus."

"You know all the right things to say," Addie smiled, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Something didn't feel right.

"It's a little nippy. Should I start a fire?" Damon asked as he went into his top drawer.

Something was definitely up.

"You don't get cold," she pointed out slowly.

Pulling on a pair of dark green boxers he commented, "You do."

Suspicious she probed, "It's nearly one in the morning. Are we going to be up for a fire?"

"We, um, yeah," he sighed, tugging at his hair uncomfortable. Taking two tumblers out he asked, "Scotch, whiskey, or bourbon?"

Addie fidgeted with the blanket uncertainly. "Since when do you ask? You normally just do. Or pour."

"I just figured I would be more of a gentleman," he shrugged. "So, what will you have?"

"Whatever," she mumbled.

"Ads, come on," Damon said encouragingly. "I want to sit and have a drink with you and talk."

"Well, do you plan on telling me what's going on?" Addie confronted. "I know you're hiding something."

Addie thought he was ignoring her when he went about starting a roaring fire. The room glowed orange as he flicked off the overhead lights.

"You use your superpowers to figure that out?" he asked, pouring a liberal amount of amber liquid into the two tumblers.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Sometimes I like to think I can read you well enough to tell when you're lying."

"I'm not lying. We don't lie to each other," he sighed, sitting at the foot of the bed. He passed a crystal glass to her. "I'm just working up the courage to tell you the truth."

There was a tightening in her chest as she saying she would not discuss the cure with Damon. That was lying by omission.

Silently she moved to sit next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Addie took a small sip of her drink and smiled at the caramel, burnt toffee, and not particularly amazing taste. Jack Daniels was the first alcohol she had really tried and was her favorite for that reason.

"You settled on bourbon," she said softly, anticipating his reaction.

"This disgusting swill is not bourbon. It's Tennessee whiskey," he corrected her quickly.

Addie snorted, "The definition of Tennessee whiskey is a straight bourbon made in Tennessee. Jack is bourbon."

Grinning slightly, Damon placed his hand on her head, pulling her against his shoulder again. "I'm not having this argument with you again, Love. The bottle says whiskey; it doesn't say bourbon."

"Fine," she pouted, glad the mood was a little lighter. "But just for the record, all bourbon is whiskey, hun."

It was a simple term of endearment but it settled like lead in stomach rather than making his heart race like it had the handful of other time she had used it. He didn't deserve it.

Sensing Damon tense again, Addie took Damon's had in hers, interlacing their fingers.

"Damon, you are my kryptonite. Forgiving you is… it's what I do. You don't have to be afraid to tell me something," she reassured him.

"There's going to come a day when you don't forgive me," he whispered. "What if that day is today?"

"You know the rules; I cannot forgive you if you cheat on me, abuse me, or drug me. Otherwise, I believe in working it out. Damon, you haven't screwed up that badly," Addie said certainly.

Damon tossed back the Jack, the cheap alcohol burning unlike his preferred drinks. He cleared his throat and murmured, "It's bad."

Her brows furrowed in mild-concern as he got up and put his empty glass on his dresser. "You went on a field trip to college. Unless you were snogging with sorority girls or my sister, I doubt it's that bad."

Addie wasn't going to be happy. The muscles in his back rippled as his hands ran through his hair.

"While I love the British slang you've picked up over the summer, I didn't snog anyone," he retorted, feeling slightly defensive. Though, she wasn't entirely wrong; he had crossed a line with Elena.

"So, we're fine then!" Addie encouraged, still sensing distress from Damon.

"Not quite. On the plus side, I didn't let your sister kill anyone tonight," he mumbled, gazing into the bright orange and red flames in the large fireplace.

Damon sounded so somber Addie wasn't sure she wanted to hear the rest. She took a bracing swig of alcohol for courage and asked, "On the down side?"

"There was this crazy, raving frat party with so many perfect victims. It turned into a feeding frenzy. The thrill of the hunt, the alcohol, the fresh blood; it all went to my head. I reveled in it. Do you know what make me able to drink my fill and leave someone still breathing? I can enjoy it. I can make it fun. I honestly believe the last person I didn't feed and kill on was Vicki Donovan," Damon admitted quietly, unable to face Addie. He knew she hated his vampire tendencies.

"Um… you killed Vicki," Addie reminded, making an effort to keep her tone neutral and non-judgmental.

"Yeah, but that was because I got bored. I didn't actually feed on her until I killed her. I didn't do that tonight, either. Elena and I just went from person to person snatching, eating, and erasing and we had a really good time," he said. The shame and guilt were consuming him.

Addie ran a finger around the rim around the rim of her glass slowly, contemplatively. Quiet but firmly she insisted, "If you guys had fun, what else happened, Damon? Elena was pretty emotional when she came home."

"Elena is a vampire now. She's a different person. We're a predatory species. She's like me. She even admitted that when I tell her what a vampire should be, deep down she believes me and thinks I'm right! But…"

"But she doesn't want to be like you," Addie finished, understanding exactly how her sister felt. It was why they had to find the cure for Elena.

"Right."

There was still a tightness in his shoulders and he had turned slightly away from the fire so that she could see his jaw was clenched.

"What are you so reluctant to tell me?" she whispered, anxiety mounting in her chest. "Did something happen?"

Damon gripped tightly at his hair and braced himself. "I might have crossed a line with Elena. We were high on blood, enjoying ourselves, forgetting about our problems, forgetting about why we were there and we danced."

Addie finished off the last of her drink and stared into her empty glass, reflecting on the information. Unsure she wanted to know the answer she whispered, "Did it mean anything? Was there anything inappropriate about it?"

"The dancing? No. Addie, there's nothing between Elena and me. That message was so blatantly obvious tonight," he insisted.

He took her empty tumbler and set it down next to his on the dresser.

"So, what are you still not telling me?"

He sat down on the bed next to her, flopping onto his back. He threw an arm across his face to cover his shame. It was too hard to look her in the eye. It was such a selfish thing of him to want. He was an asshole for even telling her.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Addie hummed in contemplation, "I don't think know. Besides, the fact that you don't want to tell me makes me want to know all the more."

"I came to the most horrifying realization tonight. I am the most selfish bastard on the planet," he mumbled.

She giggled as she traced a finger down his sternum, "That's what has you so upset? That you're selfish? I already knew that. If it makes you feel any better, so am I."

"Yeah, but, I always thought I could manage not to be selfish with you if it was in your best interest," he confessed shamefully. "I thought my love for you was greater than my love for myself."

Addie bit her lip as she stared down at him; she had come to believe that as well. Timidly she asked, "What made you change your mind?"

"When you asked me if I had wished that you had transitioned into a vampire, I was appalled and offended that you could even think that about me. I know how much you despise this lifestyle and I never wanted that for you. I never wanted you to have to choose between vampirism and death. I knew which you could pick and I wasn't ready to lose you," he professed, his voice growing softer. "But I could never ask you to change for me; I don't think I will ever forgive Stefan for doing that to me."

"And now?" Addie breathed deeply.

Sighing, Damon propped himself up on his elbows. She deserved him to look her in the eye. "I realized when I was out there tonight that I didn't want to be out with Elena. I want to be teaching you how to feed. I wanted to be having that kind of fun and freedom with my Ads. It isn't Elena that I want around for eternity; it's you. I'm never going to be ready to let go of you. It was you that I wish had transition into a vampire and that I was going through all of this with you. And that is the most selfish thing I have ever wanted because I -"

Addie buried her hand in the back of Damon's soft, black hair and pulled him in for a kiss. His lips were soft and he tasted like alcohol and toothpaste. When his cool hands nudged up her shirt to settle on her waist Addie shivered and felt her heartbeat quicken. His grip tighten when she caught his bottom lip between her teeth. There was a rumble in his chest as she bit gently at it. Satisfied, Addie took her hands off him and pulled away. Damon followed her, trying to continue the kiss. He was confused as to why she was kissing him but it was definitely better than the chilly response he had expected. Teasingly she let her lips brush his in a near kiss before moving out of his reach.

"Um, what was that for?"

Lightly pushing him onto his back, Addie curled up against his side as she remember a conversation from when they first started dating.

Damon dragged his hands over his face and kept them there, "I've been a vampire for over 145 years. Never aging, never changing. Frozen. Stuck in a life I will never finish. It sucks to feel everything so intently for so long. It's tiring."

His hands trembled slightly as she rubbed at them and his forearms and trying to get him to uncover his face but he refused. Her words were cautious, "Damon, are you having a century and a half vampire life crisis?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "I don't think such a thing exist."

She hesitated, afraid of angering him, "An identity crisis?"

"It's possible."

Addie squeezed at his hands. Pressed hard to his face, they shook harder than before. "Tell me what's really wrong."

He shrugged, his shoulders bumping into her knees. His voice cracked, "I miss it, Addie. I miss everything before this. I miss the pain being a ten instead of a one hundred. I miss not loving so hard; it brings nothing but trouble. I miss every day being a gift because I'm not going to live forever. I miss everything I did having meaning and purpose rather than just being aimless. I miss not always fighting this urge to kill someone. I miss the idea of home instead of having to move before anyone notices I'm not aging. I miss having a future full of endless possibilities, of a family, of a death at the end of a long life. I miss being human, Ads."

It would be a lie if she said it hadn't occurred to her to use the cure on both Elena and Damon. The entire reason her relationship with Damon was on a time limit was because he was a vampire. She desperately wanted him to take the cure and have a long human life with him, with the possibility of a family if they wanted.

However, that was a conversation they had only had once and Damon never mentioned that he missed being human ever again.

She knew he loved being a vampire. He had just admitted to relishing in it. She also had a clear memory of him admitting to preferring being a vampire.

"I break up with you at 35, then it's two years finding a potential husband, two years dating, a year engagement and then pregnant at 40. I don't think biology is on my side with that," calculated Addie.

Damon groaned, "You don't believe in marriage! Why is there this magical husband involved now?"

"Well, when a mommy and a daddy love ea-"

"You don't need a husband to get pregnant. You don't even need a guy," he scowled.

Addie laughed, "Are you jealous?"

Damon shrugged, "You've been jealous."

"Yeah but you're jealous of a future guy who may or may not happen after we've broken up," she giggled.

"It not funny," he growled. "And it's not because he's your husband; I'll be jealous of any guy."

Addie rolled her eyes, "What happened to parting mutually as friends?"

"That doesn't mean I'm going to be over you," muttered Damon. He broke the silence before it got too awkward, "How long will biology give me? Since future you has gone crazy and wants two completely huge, life altering things that you detest the idea of now."

She sighed impatiently, "I want to keep the option of kids open. I'm not going to raise a child without a father, Damon."

He shuddered violently, a horrible image running through his mind. What the hell was wrong with him today?

"What is your problem?" Addie demanded, her eyebrows furrowing.

Damon raised an eyebrow at her, "What? The idea of being a parent doesn't make you shudder in terror?"

"Metaphorically, yes. Literally? No. I don't let myself think about it that long. It flashes so quickly through my brain that my nervous system doesn't get a chance to respond," she grinned cheekily.

He frowned at her, "And yet we are ending our relationship so you can possibly have them."

"Future Addie might not find it so terrifying," she said, raising her shoulders helplessly.

"Fine. Future Addie will simply have to take Future Damon as a lover because the kids make her so stressed and her husband just doesn't know how to relax her," smirked Damon, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"No," she emphasized, "cheating is bad."

"Fine! Divorce the husband; he's a workaholic and bad in bed, anyways," he grumbled.

She laughed, "Then it's back to being a single parent. Why did I marry him to begin with?"

Damon sighed, resting his head on her shoulder, "Fine! Alright! Future Damon will step in and help with the kids if he gets to keep Future Addie as his lover."

Addie laughed even harder, "Yeah, right. You're crazy if you think I'd let you around my children."

"Why is that so crazy?" he asked defensively.

"Well, you are crazy and a bad influence. Besides, do you even have a paternal bone in your body?" snickered Addie, grabbing the hand in his lap.

He nodded against her shoulder, "I haven't thought about it since I was human but it's still in me. It's one of my ribs. There was a time when I was supposed to get married, inherit the family business, and pop out a few rugrats."

Tracing random patterns on the palm of his hand, she whispered, "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago. I'd take this over being human any day," Damon said. It was only a partial lie.

Still, that didn't stop her from having the slightest bit of hope that he would want to be human again. Maybe he would want that mythical future with her.

"You're not mad at me?" Damon said hesitantly, wrapping his arm around her.

"Nope," Addie insisted, popping the puh sound. "It's not that selfish that you want to be with me for eternity. I'm flattered."

"Yeah but that would mean you would have to become a vampire," he pointed out.

"But that's not what you want for me. You want us. I can't blame you for that when I want the exact same thing," she comforted, gently brushing hair out of his face.

A crease formed between his eyebrows as he studied her looking up at him innocently. Slowly he asked, "What do you mean?"

"This time limit thing on our relationship? It sucks. I'm never going to be ready to let go of you either. I love you; you're amazing. I would love to spend my life with you," Addie said wistfully. "The situation-"

"Just isn't right," Damon finished.

Addie slowly ran her hand over his strong shoulder and sculpted bicep, wondering, "You would really want to spend eternity with me? That's what you didn't want to tell me?"

"I didn't want to tell you that I wanted you to be a vampire. Of course I want to spend forever with you." Damon laid stroking the bare skin of her shoulder for several minutes, her silky hair tickling at his chest. "How was your day?"

Frowning, Addie moved to reach inside the nightstand on her side of her bed to pull out Klaus' sketch. "I did something you're going to be mad about, too."

Groaning, he sat up, "Did you put yourself in danger?"

"I went to visit Klaus."

"In other words, yes," he simmered bitterly. "Addie, you can't do that anymore. We don't know what he wants with you now. We have no guarantee that he's not going to kill you."

"I know," Addie said playacting. "But I think I got a few more leads on what I might be or whatever he might want from me. He… I think he wants to keep me alive for something. Remember Madison Gilbert?"

"Girl I was gonna marry but then Katherine decided to torture, possibly out of jealousy? Yeah," he replied sarcastically. "That's pretty hard to forget."

"And you remember the part where Katherine made her immune to compulsion, like me?"

"Of course."

"Do you, um, do you ever know what happened to her?" she asked uncomfortably, fidgeting with the folded drawing.

Damon nodded solemnly and apologized, "Yes. Stefan killed her. I should have been there to protect her but I wasn't."

"It wasn't your job to protect my family. Do you know what happened to her before she was killed, though?"

"Why don't you tell me?" he prompted.

Addie shrugged innocently, "I want to see what you know."

"There was a bit of a scandal when Madison became pregnant out of wedlock. George Lockwood was the father but he was betrothed to a fell and a considered a war hero. Madison agreed to keep the identity of the father a secret. I only knew because George was a good friend of mine and confided in me," reminisced Damon.

"What happened to the baby?"

Damon shook his head uncertainly. "I don't really know. George said there was something wrong with him. He died after a few months."

"What was wrong? How'd he died?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know what was wrong. I never saw the baby and George didn't like to talk about him. His death was never explained to me. Why do you want to know?"

Addie explained to Damon how Klaus had brought up Madison and the connection to the sisters of the initial of the Brotherhood of the Five. She felt awful about leaving out the purpose of the Brotherhood and how they intended to wipe out vampirism with the cure but she couldn't risk telling him about it.

Klaus reclined against the headboard, digesting the information for several minutes after Addie finished. There had been no reason for Klaus to mention Madison's pregnancy unless it was relevant to something he wanted. Though, he couldn't imagine what that had to do with Addie.

"Klaus also made this drawing," she sighed, passing the picture to him. She watched the creases form in his forehead as he studied it. "I think it's me as Lamia, a monster who devoured the children of others or a lamiae monster, a creature who attracted men to feed on their flesh."

"I don't you're a child-eater," Damon commented quietly, stroking his chin. "I mean, you consider call children parasites but I don't think you're going to suddenly start eating them. And, I know you like biting me but considering your strong opposition to the vampire lifestyle, I don't think you're any type of creature that feeds on flesh. Did Klaus say you were one of those things?"

"No," Addie huffed in frustration. "It's just a guess based on information I've come across."

His lips pressed into a thin line. He had an idea but it wasn't a good one. It would possibly explain everything but he would have to do further research. Elijah had told him Klaus had a painting of Addie with a tail before the accident but without the context of mythology and the mention of Madison, he hadn't been able to make anything of it.

"I think we could keep looking at other options," Damon muttered, folding the picture back up. "Do you mind if I hold onto this?"

"That's fine," she said quietly. "You're not going to have a bigger fit about me going to see Klaus?"

He scoffed, "Are you going to start listening to me or are you going to keep doing what you want?"

She hummed, pretending to think.

"Exactly," he snipped. "There would be no point. Besides, you're not having a fit about my sweaty, hot dance party with Elena when you could be."

Addie's lips puckered sourly. "Well, you didn't exactly describe it like that before."

"It didn't mean anything," he insisted, brushing her hair behind her ear. "The only thing wrong with it was that I wasn't with you."

"I'm tired," she muttered, pulling away from him and slipping under the silky black comforter.

Damon frowned as he noticed Addie positioned herself on the far side of the bed rather than the middle. He knew she would be upset with him, no matter what she said. He glanced at the dimming fire; it would go out on it's own within an hour or two. It was odd to lay alone on his side of the bed when he was used to falling asleep cuddled up with Addie.

After fifteen long minutes Addie could tell by Damon's light breathing he still hadn't fallen asleep. Into the darkness she wondered, "What would you be willing to give up if it meant we could spend the rest of our lives together?"

"Addie, I want to be with you forever but I would never sacrifice your happiness," he sighed dejectedly. He wanted nothing more to ask her to turn for him but he couldn't ask her to live a life she would hate.

She hadn't asked about forever. Addie's fingers toyed with her hair nervously. "Remember when you said you missed being human?"

"My existential crisis? Yes," he snorted.

"Do you still ever miss it?" she whispered, unable to stop thinking about the cure.


A/N: An update in TEN days? Why? Because you guys are so fan-freaking-tastic! I love getting reviews from you guys, discussing theories, and seeing the numbers of favorites/follow go up! Thank you guys so much!

We are really narrowing it down to what is so special about Addie! Any ideas? Damon thinks he might know what "creature". Do you?