Caroline, Elena, and McGrath got an early start the next morning, heading to the second location down the coast, Amantea. Half way into the 6-hour ride, they pulled over in a small coastal town to take an early lunch break.

Caroline pulled her cell out of her bag while Elena was in the restroom, biting her lip and inwardly groaning when she saw that Damon had called her again 3 times the night before. She knew that the longer she waited to call him back, the more insistent he would become, and she didn't want Elena to know that they had been talking, nor did she want Damon to know they were on the hunt for him.

She walked down the block a bit and stood where she could still see McGrath at the car, dialing Damon's number.

"Caroline? Where have you been? I've been trying to call you for like 3 days."

"I'm sorry Damon, I've been with Elena." Caroline replied, letting out her breath in relief. At least that wasn't a lie, she thought.

"How is she?" He asked softly, and Caroline's heart broke for him.

"She's feeling better, physically, but mentally … she's not going to give up on you Damon, whatever you may do."

"She just has to let other options settle into her mind, adoption, or treatments ,or –"

"Damon she's set. She knows what she wants, and what she wants is you. There's no way of getting her off that track, she's just as stubborn as you."

"Don't I know it."

"Crap, Damon, I gotta go, Elena's walking in, I'll call you later!" Caroline said quickly and walked back towards the car where Elena was standing and watching her.

"Who was that Care?"

"Oh my mom, just checking in on us, no big deal!" Caroline replied hurriedly and hopped back in the car. Elena looked at her curiously for the moment before shrugging her shoulders and getting into the other side of the backseat.

After spending the night and the next few days searching Amantea, and then the third town, Tropea, they came up empty. Caroline was worried, McGrath was focused, and Elena was determined. She knew he was somewhere in the vicinity, it was a matter of thinking like Damon and doing what wouldn't be obvious to everyone.

"The last location on the list is Sciacca on Sicily, looks like that will be about a 6 hour drive from here. Maybe we should spend the time tossing around some ideas for where to look for him, the type of person he might hang out with, the type of house he might stay at, that type of thing." McGrath said, folding the map up on the passenger side.

"That sounds like a really good idea, Care, you have a pen?"

"What? Oh, sure, yup, here you go." Caroline replied absentmindedly, pulling a pen out of her purse, along with her cell.

Damon had sent her several text messages, all of them vague in case Elena saw them. She typed a quick reply to say that everything was good and she was spending the weekend with Elena. That should give me a few days away from him, Caroline thought, and for someone who wants Elena to move on, he seems to be way too interested in what she's up to.

They arrived in Sciacca at dusk and Elena took a deep breath as they parked the car. This was the last place Stefan gave them to look for Damon, and Elena was terrified that they would come up empty handed again. Determined to not give up, she closed her eyes for a moment, gathered her thoughts, and stepped out of the car resolutely.

She would find Damon, no matter what it took. Even if she had to spend years searching Europe, she'd figure out a way.

McGrath returned to the hotel a few hours later, having taken one part of the city while the girls canvassed another section.

"Any luck Ms. Gilbert?" He asked as he met them in the hotel restaurant for a late dinner.

"Nothing yet. There's a couple of cafes we are going to hit in the morning, they were closed by the time we got there. How about you?"

"I asked around at several trattorias and a couple of stores but no one could remember him. When was the last time you think he was here?"

"Stefan said it could have been as early as the 60s or as late as the early 90s. They weren't in touch much for a long time, but they sort of kept an eye on each other. Damon travelled Italy quite frequently before he returned to the States."

They spent the rest of the evening mapping off sections of the city with a pen, planning out the next day's search.

One day turned into two as the trio fruitlessly searched the entire area twice over. They had run into a few older citizens who recognized Damon from his time there in the 60's, but not one sighting otherwise. Caroline's nerves started to fray as she walked for endless hours with Elena through the same streets over and over, wondering when Elena was going to break.

While Elena poured over the map once again, Caroline took a few minutes to call Klaus, needing his comforting words and advice.

"Caroline, darling, I'm so glad you called. I've missed your voice."

Caroline smiled to herself and bit her lip, still feeling butterflies from Klaus' musical voice, even though they had been together for quite while.

"I've missed yours too. Sorry for all the texts and emails, it's been hard to catch some time alone."

"How is it going? Are you having any luck in Sicily?"

"None, and I am really starting to panic. What am I going to do if he isn't here? How will Elena deal with it? She's determined to find him, and I'm worried that she's going to suffer, really suffer, if she can't find him."

"We have eternity, you and I Caroline, but Elena doesn't. She's so focused on this because she knows deep down that she can't waste any time. It could take months to find him, years if life is really cruel. I'm going to do everything I can to help you with the search, but if Damon's broken hearted, he's probably hunkered down somewhere and working his way through an alcohol supply. You may not find anyone who's seen him, love. "

"I know, and you're right, I bet that's what he's doing." Caroline replied. She hadn't told Klaus that she'd been in touch with Damon, it seemed like if she told him, she'd spill it to Elena, and then there would be real problems.

"Let Elena take the lead, she'll feel in her heart if he's there somewhere, I know it."

Gathering once again around the map of Sciacca that night over dinner, Elena's eyes drifted over to the larger map of Italy. She read the names of the islands to herself silently, finding it strangely calming that if Damon wasn't in Sciacca, there were still all these places to look. As long as she kept looking, the hope stayed alive, and she had something to live for.

"Hey McGrath, why isn't this island named?" Elena asked, pointing to an island in the Northern Mediterranean sea.

"Let's see, well, this is Sardinia here, so that island is Corsica, its actually part of France surprisingly."

Elena froze as the word "Corsica" jiggled something in the back of her mind. She stared into her wine glass, hearing Damon say the name of the island in a memory.

It was a Friday night and Elena had decided she was going to work her way through Damon's liquor selection, tasting each one to see what he loved so much. She had so far tried at least 4 or 5 bourbons, three whiskeys, and her hand settled on a bottle in the back, pulling it out.

"Aqua Vita Cedrat?" She asked, starting to feel tipsy, leaning into Damon.

"It's from an island, Corsica. The cedrat is sort of a cross between a lemon and a lime. Aqua Vita is what Corsicans call brandy. It's quite good, but only a small sip for you, babe, it's quite pricey and it's my last bottle from the stash I brought back."

"You've been there?" Elena said dreamily, imagining her and Damon taking a trip to Europe someday.

"I've lived there, on and off, over the past century. It's a quiet place, good to get away and hide from the world."

"Elena? Elena! Are you ok?" Caroline said loudly, squeezing her hand.

Elena's head snapped up and she nodded quickly, smiling for the first time in days.

"Corsica. That's where he is, I know it."