Coming back from honeymoon was never going to be the greatest feeling in the world, but as Caroline rose at 5am, ready for work, she felt like complete shit despite the coffee Stefan always made for her. She had gone back to her job at the news station with Stefan playing nanny and looking after the girls. She figured that she might pick up some civilian chatter on what might be going on in the supernatural world. They had still not located Alaric, Bonnie's locator spells seemingly blocked. The research at the Armory was slow and messy. It was beyond frustrating. Despite her boss being more than agreeable about flexible hours and parental leave, her patience wore thin and she decided there and then to resign. It had served her well in the past, but broadcast journalism was no longer her thing.


After getting up to see Caroline off, Stefan never wanted to return to their cold, empty bed. Instead, he busied himself with the daily meal prep for the remaining inhabitants of the Salvatore Mansion. The coffee machine spluttered and gurgled for the second time that morning as he finished off the twin's breakfast. Upstairs they were getting dressed or so he hoped, giggling away like they didn't have a care in the world. Looking after the kids, ferrying them around, reading them stories, endless teddy bear picnics and horseback rides - he loved every moment and thrived in his role as step-dad. He harboured a secret, however, one that could potentially endanger both himself and the girls. Struggling to get things under control, there was no one he could turn to, no one he could ask. He needed access to information and the only person who could help was the only person he couldn't ask.


Bonnie was bright, intellectually far more able than either Elena or Caroline, but alas the US school system didn't really cater for the 1%, the people with special talents who could take an idea and run with it. Bonnie was about practical tasks, applying knowledge rather than regurgitating lists of facts. When it came to magic, she could happily trawl through grimoires for hours as the largely female witch population knew how to organise their shit. The Armory however had an archaic filing system that defied logic or reason. To add to her woes, Alaric had started to reorganise the collection and had made everything ten times worse. She despaired they would never discover anything of relevance. Dorian was a god send, but there was only one of him. Maybe she needed a new assistant?


Even as a child, Damon struggled to sit still, preferring the buzz of the lumber yard to the silence of the classroom. His tutor had despaired at his lack of application. Academic pursuits had never been a life goal for him; as soon as he could he escaped the classroom and set off on a life of adventure, much to Giuseppe's disgust. So being locked in the Armory and forced to read through dusty old documents was his idea of hell, well not literal hell, he had seen that and was keen to avoid it. He wanted to be out in the world tracking down Ric or the mysterious shady couple, but Matt's leads had run dry, so aside from hopping from bar to bar he had no idea where to look. He knew Bonnie would never go for that plan so he busied himself trying to find a clue, any clue to get himself out of this dump. If that meant cheating a little, so be it.


At least the chair, Alaric was currently tied to, was padded, even if his wrists and ankles were painfully rope chafed and his eye still throbbed. The rough hessian sack over his head was abruptly pulled from his head and he was momentarily blinded by bright light. He blinked desperately trying to focus, disorientated and confused. "Mr Saltzman." A deep, threatening voice boomed from somewhere in front of him. "What is your involvement with the Armory?"


AN: This fic started off with me wanting to write a Steroline honeymoon, then I had 1000 different ideas so decided to take it in a different direction and then got stalled. My muse is back and I'm keen to get going again with this story. I hope everyone enjoys the new updates. To the guest reviewer who talked about the breaks, trying to put breaks into FF is one of the most annoying and frustrating things ever. I thought I had it cracked, I was wrong. I have gone with their horizontal line thing which is overkill, but at least separates the character thoughts out.