Katherine listened to the shouting and commotion for a few minutes, managed to free herself from the scarf, dressed, and ran out into the living room where a man was yelling and waving a knife around. Gregory was trying to disarm him without getting hurt himself.

"Oh, my god, Gregory!" She yelled. "Just punch him for fuck's sake! Or ram his head against a table!" Sighing, she ran over to a chair and picked it up. "I have to do everything myself around here, don't I?" She muttered to herself. "He picks a fine time to go all noble!" Carrying the chair over her head, she hit the guy with it, and he fell down unconscious, after which Gregory pried the knife out of his grip and went to put it in the kitchen.

"That was unpleasant," he said.

"And you were not a lot of help," Katherine replied. "Why the hell were you hesitating?"

"You saw all the girls around," he said. "I didn't want to scare them more than they already were!"

"Who cares?" Katherine replied. "It would have been more scarring if he would have gotten away and grabbed one of them. Any one of them could have been killed because you were concerned about being noble. I'll tell you what, you're lucky I was here!"

"What are you doing out of my bed?" Gregory asked her, eyes narrowed. "What part of 'stay put' don't you understand?"

Katherine grinned. "The part where you did a shitty job of tying the scarf securely to the bedpost."

Gregory opened his mouth and then shut it. Katherine headed back into the living room where the girls were watching the man's body with apprehension.

"Who did he come for?" Gregory asked.

All the girls looked at Amanda, who slowly raised her hand. "Me," she said quietly. "He came for me."

"Well, he definitely won't be coming anywhere near you any time soon," Gregory told her. "I can promise you that."

"How?" Amanda asked. "They already told me they were putting him in jail once and here he is!"

"Don't you worry about that," Gregory told her. "Leave that to me." He looked at Katherine. "Take her to the hospital, would you? This has been a very traumatizing situation and I want to make sure everything is okay."

"All right," Katherine nodded. She held out her hand to Amanda. "Come with me," she said. "Let's get you to a doctor."

Amanda looked down at herself. "I'm a little shaken up," she admitted. "But fine otherwise."

"You don't know that for sure," Katherine told her. "Come with me."

Amanda nodded. "All right," she said. "But I thnk you're making all this fuss for nothing."

"Maybe not," Katherine told her. "I was pregnant myself once."

Amanda paused. "You were?"

"Yeah," Katherine nodded. "So I know what it's like. Now will you come with me?"

"Sure," Amanda murmered. "Let's go."

After they were gone, Gregory looked around at the girls. "Are you all going to be all right here? I have to take care of some business. It will only take a few minutes."

"Shouldn't you call the police, Mr. Mikaelson, and report him?" One of the girls asked.

"Yes," Gregory nodded. "That is exactly what I plan to do. Don't you worry." However, when he got the young man out to his car, he waited until he came to, and then grabbed him by the throat. "You are slime," he whispered through his teeth. "The lowest sort of creature to walk the earth. You don't deserve to live after what you did to that poor girl."

The boy just grinned. "Are you kidding? She should be grateful to us. No one else would have wanted her."

Gregory growled and then slammed the young man's head against one of the front windows of the car and then the other. Brushing the glass off the seat, he sat the man down next to him and buckled him in.

"Hospital," the other man muttered. "Hospital..."

"You don't deserve a hospital," Gregory muttered. He drove the man out to the woods and sucked him dry, then left his body for the animals to find and do whatever they pleased with. "You treated a girl like she was disposable," he whispered, looking down as a crow pecked out the man's eyes. "She isn't. But now you are."


"Where are you going?" Stefan asked Felicity.

"I'm going to see that Kol guy again," Felicity told him. "At Chloe and Laurette's shop. Apparently he trusts me enough to let me help."

"Let me come with you," Stefan told her. "I don't think it's good for you to go by yourself."

"It's fine," Felicity told him. "Besides, you have to stay here. If you don't, there'll be no one around to distract Adrian, and you know how intent he is on bonding with me! If he follows me and finds out what I'm doing, I'll lose all my credibility and everything will be ruined!"

"Are you sure there's not more that I can do?" Stefan asked. "Because I'm more than willing to do more."

"No," Felicity shook her head. "That's all I need from you. Thanks a bunch!" She left without giving him a chance to say another word and when she was gone, he sighed. He really hated being left behind when she was doing something that could get her hurt. Did she not realize that if something happened to her, that it was his ass that was on the line? Could she stop being selfish for just one moment and think about him? Apparently, that wasn't possible.

He headed out of his room and tried his best to calm down so he wouldn't give away what she was doing out of pure spite.

"You okay, Stefan?" Helene asked.

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Helene asked. "You look a little upset."

"No," Stefan shook his head. "I'm not upset. I'm good."

"You know," Helene told him, "I'm really surprised you're still here. Felicity went out and I thought for sure that you'd go with her."

Stefan shrugged. "I didn't feel like it. I'm a little tired."

"Oh, all right," Helene nodded. "You should rest up then." She went into her and Adrian's bedroom and found him sitting on the bed with their dog, Rusty.

"What are you doing?" Helene asked.

"I'm thinking of sending Rusty to Ladybug. Do you think I should do that?"

"Why would you do that?" Helene asked. "What makes you think that Lenora would even take him if you did?"

"Well, she has children, right?" Adrian asked.

Helene nodded. "Well, at least that's what my mother says. It's not like I've ever met them."

"You should try," Adrian told her. "At least she'd probably think about it if you asked."

"Maybe I will after Felicity," Helene told him. "I think I can only handle making things up to one daughter at a time."

Adrian just shook his head. "You don't have anything to make up for," he said. "It's me who does."

"No, not really," Helene told him. "Don't you remember why I got my powers taken away?"

"Cause you abused your powers and turned me into a bunny," Adrian replied. "Yeah, I remember."

"It wasn't just because I turned you into a bunny," Helene told him. "I took Felicity back at one point, and it turned out to be more of a chore than I hoped to have her around. I wasn't getting any sleep and I was irritated, and finally, I put a spell on her so that I wouldn't have ot hear her cry and scream anymore. I can't remember if both our dads were there when I was found out or if my father found out second hand, but they took Felicity back and then Mom decided to take my powers away. You know this!"

"Yeah," Adrian nodded. "I do. Right. But she doesn't, I don't think."

Helene sighed. "I don't know if I should keep it that way, or fess up. It would be easier if I kept it quiet."

"I think you should tell her," Adrian advised. "She seems really happy to have been raised by my father, so I bet she won't be too mad at you. And if she is, at least you told her the truth, right?"

"Yeah," Helene nodded. "Some parents we are."

Adrian put his arm around her. "Well, at least we have a lot of time to fix what we did wrong. That's one good thing about all this mess. And I think I'll start by sending Rusty to Lenora and she can do with him what she wants. He should be around kids."

"All right," Helene sighed. "It's worth a try." She watched him write a note and attach it to the dog's collar. "You're gonna go to a new home, boy," he told him, scratching the dog behind his ears. "I think you'll like it there. You'll be around kids again!"

The dog gave a happy bark and Adrian turned to Helene. "Now, how exactly do I go about getting him to Lenora?"

"I'll go see my mom," Helene told him. "She'll handle it."

Adrian grinned. "Have you told your mother about our little set up here?"

"No!" Helene shook her head. "I'm not stupid. If I tell her, I'll be in even more trouble than I already am and I don't want that. We're working on moving forward, remember. Not back."


"You came back," Kol told Felicity as she came into the shop and shut the door behind her. "To be honest, I didn't think you would."

"Why not?" Felicity asked. "I'm a witch too, just like everyone else in this operation. Well, except you. Why would you want to help? Your allegiance should be just as shaky as mine supposedly is. Adrian is your nephew. Well, half-nephew, I guess."

"But I've never met him," Kol replied. "And why should I have an allegiance to someone I've never met?"

Felicity nodded. "Point taken." She went up to the counter and stared at him. "Just how big a part do you have in this operation?" She asked. "You're not helping the witches get away from Adrian just so you can enslave them yourself, are you?"

"No," Kol shook his head. "I happen to have a great respect for witches, darling. And if you're going to question my motivations, I think I have the right to question yours. How can I know you aren't gonna go running to your father with everything we're doing here?"

"I thought you said you trusted me about that already," Felicity told him.

"Well, I want to be doubly sure of you," Kol told her. "This is a very important operation and I won't have you lousing it up because you weren't honest with me, or looking to get into favor with Adrian."

"And I told you," Felicity replied through her teeth, "that I have absolutely no reason to be loyal to Adrian whatsoever. I didn't grow up with him and although he fathered me, he didn't raise me and I don't consider him my father."

"I hope you're being honest about this," Kol told her. "Because if you aren't, there will be horrible consequences."

"I think she's being honest," Laurette replied. "No one could be that good of an actress around witches who could very easily find out if she's lying."

"I promise I'm not," Felicity replied. "I'll do whatever I can to help."

"She could bond with him," Chloe said. "Adrian, I mean. She could buddy up to him and find out what he's planning to do against us."

"Yeah," Kol nodded. "That would be really useful." He looked at Felicity. "You do that. If you come up with anything useful, I'll consider you trustworthy."

"Can't you think of anything other than that for me to do?" Felicity asked. "I really don't want to bond with him at all."

"No," Kol shook his head. "That's your task. You don't have to take it, even if it is the only way we'll trust you."

Felicity rolled her eyes. "Fine," she told him. "I'll bond with Adrian. Geez."

"Good," Kol nodded. "Come back here in a week to tell us anything useful you find out."

Felicity nodded and left the shop. "The things I do for my kind," she muttered to herself.


"I need you to dust, all right?" Lenora said to James. "Or zap all the dust away."

"Why do I have to do that?" James asked. "I think the dust gives our humble abode a nice, lived-in look." He grinned.

"Yeah, well, Damon and Aunt Lucy are coming to dinner, remember," Lenora told him. "And I don't want her to think we're slobs. Do you?"

"You know," James told her. "I've heard that you can tell whether or not people are your real friends by if you clean before they come to visit or not. If they're your real friends, they won't care how messy you are!"

"Even if they don't, I do," Lenora told him. "Get off your ass right now. Or if you don't want to clean, you can watch Henry and Susanna. Take your pick. It might just be easier for me to do this by myself anyway."

"Well, all right, then," James told her. "I'll watch Henry and Susanna while you clean. I have no doubt you'll do a lovely job."

Lenora scoffed. "Yeah, of course I will." As he walked away, she remembered to call after him, "and don't you go letting Henry feed Susanna bugs again! Be more observant this time."

"That was two years ago!" James replied without turning. "It didn't seem to have affected her much in the long run. I think Henry was more traumatized by it than she was."

"Even so," Lenora told him. "Watch them closely, okay?"

"Okay!" James replied. "I promise I will!"

Lenora cleaned up until Lucy and Damon showed up that night. Lucy and Damon entered a house that smelled strongly of lemon-scented cleaner and was spotless.

"Did you clean for us?" Lucy asked Lenora in shock. "You really didn't have to."

"See?" James said. "I told you!"

Because they'd been confined to their rooms for most of the day so they wouldn't mess up the house, Henry and Susanna were full of energy. When Susanna saw say Damon, she ran up to him and grabbed his pant leg. "Hide and go seek!" She demanded.

"Just a minute now, Susie," Lenora told her. "Aunt Lucy and Damon just got here. Maybe Damon doesn't want to play hide and seek now."

"It's all right, Lenora," Damon told her. "I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Lenora asked.

"Yes," Damon told her. "It's fine. Not much different from when I used to play hide and seek with you, and if I remember correctly, you didn't always ask in the politest possible way either." But he said it with a twinkle in his eye, and when the two of them left, Henry came to sit next to Lucy.

"Do you read books?" He asked her shyly.

"Yes," Lucy smiled. "I love books. In fact, I'm gonna go to school and study and after I finish studying, they'll give me a paper that says I know more about books than anyone else."

"Margaret likes books," Henry told her. "I kinda do, but not a lot of them."

"Well, even if you just like a couple, that's a good start," Lucy told him. "What sort of books do you like?"

"Ones about pirates!" Henry exclaimed.

"Oh!" Lucy grinned. "Have you heard of Treasure Island? Or Kidnapped?"

"No," Henry shook his head. "Margaret can only read Pete the Pirate Goes to Sea. Not big books. Are those big books?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "They are. But they're very good."

Henry looked inquisitively at his mother. "Will you read me those big books, Mommy?"

"Sure!" Lenora nodded. "I'd be glad to."

James groaned and stood up. "I'm gonna go get a drink. Does anyone else want anything?"

"I do!" Henry exclaimed. "Same thing as you, Daddy."

James grinned. "What I'm having you're too young for," he said. "How about juice?"

"Awww!" Henry groaned. "Why can't I have rum?!"

"Because you're too young, your father said that already!" Lenora answered. "You're seven. You shouldn't even know what rum is!"

Henry grinned widely. "But I do though!"

Lenora scowled at James. "And I think we know who to thank for that," she replied.

"As long as I don't let him drink any, what's the harm in him knowing about it?" James asked.

Lenora just sighed and let it go, not wanting to prolong the argument. She poured Henry some juice and although he scrunched up his nose at the sight of it, he drank it anyway.

"So," Lenora said to Lucy as they all sat down to dinner. "Were you saying to Henry that you plan to get another degree?"

"Yeah," Lucy smiled. "I am. My doctorate in Medieval and Renaissance literature."

"Oh, how interesting!" Lenora replied.

"Yeah, and when she's done, I'll be living with a doctor!" Damon grinned. "It's a wonderful prospect."

Susanna came running in a few minutes later. "I win!" She said.

"Yes!" Damon replied, taking her on his lap. "You do win. Good for you!"

Lucy frowned. "Were you just gonna leave her where she was, Damon?"

"I'm not surprised," Lenora replied. "When I was little and we would play, he would take unscheduled breaks too and then I would come out a long time later to find out that he wasn't even looking for me anymore."

"When did the two of you play hide and seek?" James asked.

"Oh, when I was little and my parents were out, he was my babysitter," Lenora informed him. "I thought I told you that."

James shrugged. "Well, if you did, evidently I wasn't paying attention."

"There's a surprise," Lenora replied, rolling her eyes.

For the rest of dinner, conversation was light and pleasant, and when it was over, James helped Lenora with the dishes while Damon continued to play with Susanna and Lucy read with Henry.

"I think that went well," Lenora told him. "And thanks for helping me with this."

"You're welcome," James told her. He scrubbed a pot in silence for a moment, and then said, "I know this is a sore subject, but don't you think I ought to meet your father sometime?"

Lenora tipped her head in Damon's direction. "You already know the guy who was the closest thing I ever had to a father," she replied. "And he likes you."

"What about the man who made you?" James asked. "I think I should meet him."

"No," Lenora shook her head. "You shouldn't. You wouldn't like him anyway. He's an asshole." Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" James told Lenora. He went to get the door and came back a few minutes later holding a dog that had a note attached to his collar. Susanna heard the barking and came running into the kitchen.

"Puppy!" She cried, a huge grin on her face. She got down next to him and started to pet him. "Be gentle," Lenora told him. "You don't want him to bite you."

"Where do you think he came from?" James asked. "What if he's a stray?"

"He's not," Lenora told him. She took the note off the dog's collar and read it.

"Ladybug,

I heard that you have kids now and I thought they might like to get to know Rusty. He's been living with your mother and me, but I could tell he missed being around kids, so I'm giving him to you. Take care of him and enjoy him.

Love,

Dad"

Lenora groaned and threw the note in the trash. "Of all the nerve," she sighed.

"Are you not a dog person?" James asked. "And I can't believe your father calls you Ladybug. That's adorable!" He grinned.

"I grew up with this dog," Lenora told him. "First he was my grandma and grandpa's, then Dad took a liking to him so he grew up with my parents and me, and now Dad's given him to me to keep. Probably as some sort of a bribe. Between Rusty and calling me by his old pet name for me, I think he's trying to get me to do something for him, but I won't. I just won't."

James looked at Susanna, who seemed thoroughly smitten with the dog. "Well," he said, "If you're thinking of sending the dog back on principle, I believe it's too late for that now."