Alexandria 2015

"So you're telling me there's more of these freaks?" Damon asked, incredulous.

"Apparently 4 more," Stefan replied over the phone. "After Alasdair calmed down, he said if this Kester was helping the Heretics, he would be sending someone to retrieve the armor as well."

"Got it," Damon answered, "We'll keep an eye out. Take care brother."

"You too"

Damon hung up, and walked over to Bonnie and Alaric.

"What's the word?" Alaric wondered.

"Apparently we may have company?" Damon stated. At Alaric and Bonnie's confused looks, he clarified, "I'll explain later, just keep your eyes open for any of our Heretic friends. You want to tell us your enigmatic idea there Ric?"

"Right," Alaric sighed, "Look, I've got a friend at Alexandria University. Specializes in Bronze Age Egypt. If anyone knows anything about these guys, it'll be him."

"Well then," Damon smiled, "let's pay him a visit, shall we?"

They got to the university no problem. Alaric then gave his name and asked to be buzzed in to Dr. Hisham Aziz. After a slight delay, they were ushered into a cluttered office where they were greeted by jovial, if slightly stout, balding man.

"Alaric Saltzman," he smiled, throwing his arms open wide, "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

"Good to see you again Hisham," Alaric replied, returning the embrace. "Allow me to introduce my friends, Bonnie and Damon."

Hisham observed them closely, before cracking a wry grin. "A human, witch, and a vampire walk into a bar. Oh don't give me that look," he admonished, "you live long enough, you pick up on things. Last time you were here, you wanted information on how to kill vampires, now you walk into my office with one as your friend."

"Things change," Alaric shrugged.

Hisham nodded. "That they do. Now," he continued, "what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"What can you tell us about beings known as the white walkers?" Alaric asked.

Hisham chuckled. "What, like Game of Thrones?"

"I'm serious Hisham," Alaric. "All we know is they're very old, very strong, and they have something to do with water and ice."

Hisham's face had lost all of its previous humor. "By the grace of Allah, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Mystic Falls 2015

A woman walked down the central avenue of Mystic Falls. Caroline found it curious that the woman never stopped to wonder at the lack of people, despite it being the middle of a Saturday. The empty streets sometimes even creeped out Caroline. There was a stillness to them, as if they were watching, waiting for something to happen.

Caroline looked around, and seeing nobody else, decided she should probably get this lady off the streets before something happened to her. Stepping onto the road, she approached the mysterious intruder.

"Excuse me miss?" she called out, "the town isn't safe right now. Didn't you read the signs?"

The woman stopped, eyeing Caroline up and down. "My aren't you pretty?" she observed. Caroline took a moment to assess the woman as well. She was gorgeous, dark curly hair tumbling around shapely shoulders. That hair framed a pretty face with a generous helping of freckles. She was wearing some very expensive clothing and- was that a Louis Vuitton purse?!

"Thank you," Caroline replied, "you are quite beautiful yourself, but like I said, the town isn't safe, so if you would just follow me-"

"I assure you, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," the woman said, giving Caroline a piercing blue eyed stare. Wait, Caroline thought, those eyes, I've seen them before. Then she made the connection.

"You're one of them," Caroline breathed.

The woman chuckled, "Yes darling, I'm one of 'them'. My question is, who are you?"

"You're Rhona, right?" Caroline asked. At Rhona's nod, she continued, "Don't worry, I'm one of Alasdair's friends."

That didn't seem to reassure Rhona at all. If anything, the immortal became more on guard, more predatory. "Alasdair doesn't have friends," she informed Caroline.

"Fine, not friends. Allies, whatever you want to call it. The point is, we're on the same side, so you can stop staring at me like I'm a piece of meat." Caroline finished pointedly.

"You've got quite a mouth on you," Rhona observed, "And I respect a sassy bitch. Once again, however, I find myself doubting your story. You see, not only does Alasdair not have friends, he doesn't work with anyone besides me. Never has, not for 2,000 years. So I will ask you one more time. Who. Are. You."

Caroline sighed, "I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, just ask him. How are you guys related anyways? You his sister or something?"

Now Rhona really laughed. "Far from it. As for your request, no I will not go with you to him. That son of a bitch wants me here, he can damn well come find me."

"3,000 years," Alasdair remarked, emerging from the shadow of the nearby tree where he had been observing the exchange. "3,000 years, and you are still as petty as ever. Hello my love."

Alexandria University 2015

"What the hell does that mean?" Damon wondered. "So you have heard of them?"

Hisham sighed. "Most of what I've heard is myth and legend, and I'm not even sure they're real."

"Oh they are," Damon interjected, "trust me."

"Well then I will give you the best knowledge that I have." Dr. Aziza replied. Pulling a file out of his desk, he opened it onto the desk.

"Well according to the legend, the seasons of the Earth are harnessed into living embodiments, known as the Seasonal Stones. Summer, Winter, Fall, and Spring. Now these Stones are scattered throughout the world at different places, originally where their power was strongest. Now, about 4 thousand years ago, an Egyptian witch found the Stone of Summer. This witch, with the help of the darkest magics then known, fashioned a spell which could fuse the power of the stone into a human. Now due to the extreme power present in the Stone, it had to be broken into 4 separate parts, and then fused into 4 people. The idea was to create supersoldiers, so they would not need to have a standing army. And it worked, almost. According to the myth, supersoldiers were created, however they became unstable and ended up causing more destruction than they were worth. Records from that time are understandably scarce, so that's all I can tell you about that."

"Doctor," Damon interrupted, "this is all very interesting, but can we skip to the part that involves us."

"Trust me," Hisham insisted, "All of this is relevant information. Anyways, after the failure with the Stone of Summer, the project was abandoned, and almost forgotten in the ensuing centuries. However, around the 11th century BC, there was a power struggle in Egypt. A small sect, exiled from Egypt, sought a way to claim power. A witch, known only as Her Greatness, had gotten her hands on the spell used to fuse the Stone of Summer. With her supporters, they set out in search for the Stone of Winter. Their search eventually brought them to modern day Scotland."

"Hold up," Alaric interjected, "Egyptians in Scotland? Come on Hisham, are you being for real right now?"

"Like I said, before today I thought it was just myth and legend," Hisham maintained, "Now, when they were in Scotland, they somehow got their hands on the Stone of Winter. Now Her Greatness had apparently made some modifications to the original spell, so when they tried it again with 4 of the natives, it worked. These became the white walkers. 4 supersoldiers, and within 30 years they had reconquered Egypt. It came at a cost, however, as the amount of power needed to complete the spell killed Her Greatness. For years these 4 were the protectors of Egypt, then, around the rise of Rome, they disappeared."

"Damn," Bonnie said, "talk about a long history."

"I'm sure that's barely scratching the surface," Hisham clarified, "Like I said, it's mostly myth and rumors that I never really took seriously. Now that you've been able to verify their existence, however, I may need to revisit my studies of them."

"That's great doctor," Damon broke in, "but there's one small piece of information specifically that we were hoping to get from you."

"And what's that?" Hisham asked.

"We're here to pick up their armor," Damon answered, "We would like to know its location."

Once again Hisham's face grew solemn. "No matter what price they are paying, nothing is worse unleashing that evil onto this world."

Mystic Falls 2015

"Well you got me here," Rhona stated, "Now tell me what urgent means, or I will walk away as fast as I came."

"You're not actually still mad at me are you?" Alasdair asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Rhona demanded.

"Rhona, it's been over 50 years," Alasdair protested.

"I don't care," she insisted, "You killed him. I don't know if I can ever forgive you."

"Oh don't blame me because he chose to break the rules," he scoffed.

"Um excuse me," Caroline interrupted, "Confused vampire here, can someone fill in the blanks."

"Well," Rhona huffed, "If you hadn't figured out by now. Alasdair and I are lovers, have been for thousands of years. Eternal love, never dimming or all the superlatives Al loves to drape on it."

Alasdair chuckled, "You do too, when you're not pretending to be mad at me."

"I am not pretending," she asserted, "Anyways, that's all well and good, but eternity is a long time to remain faithful, and at times we've both the pull of others. For a time we'd get jealous and kill each others lovers."

"However," Alasdair broke in, "We both realized that this was pointless and hypocritical and, at Rhona's suggestion I might add, we came up with a set of rules for any affairs. Namely, don't flaunt the affair in the other's face. And, despite whatever we would feel for a time, sometimes even decades, we would always return to one another." he finished with a loving smile directed at Rhona.

"What our current dispute stems from," Rhona continued, choosing to ignore him, "Is about 50 years ago, I met someone truly special, Brad. We were very much in love, so much so that I considered finding a vampire to turn him so I could have him for longer. But then Alasdair found out, and killed him." Her face twisted with rage, "With the fucking Blood Eagle no less."

Alasdair snorted with derision, "Please, Brad was an arrogant ass who thought he could flaunt the rules in my face, and that your love would protect him. The bastard tried to cuckold me, Rhona. He openly mocked me, as if you hadn't had hundreds of other lovers before him. He broke the rules, so I did what I wanted."

"He was special Alasdair," Rhona insisted, "you should have come to me, and I would have set him straight, but instead you let your jealousy run free when you had no reason to. Anyways, I need more than 50 years to get over it, so unless urgent meant something besides this pathetic attempt at reconciliation, I'm leaving," and she turned to go.

"I found a way to get our armor out of Alexandria," he stated quietly. That stopped her in her tracks. "Also," he continued, "Kester is back and Rhona…" his voice broke.

Rhona whipped her head around at this last comment, her eyes going wide. "What is it, Al?"

Alasdair drew in a ragged breath, "He knew Rhona," he breathed, "He knew about Mehmet's plan beforehand."

Rhona's previous angry facade had been completely dropped, and her expression held only shock and concern. "Oh Al," she murmured, stepping forward to embrace her lover, letting him sob into her soldier, "I'm so sorry Al."

A/N Reviews and feedback appreciated and encouraged!