Just as the driver, a recently-turned vampire named Max, started the car, his phone rang. He motioned to the guy in the seat beside him to grab the phone out of the cup holder and see who was calling. "See who it is, Jack," he ordered without moving his eyes from the road ahead. "And if it's the boss, go ahead and tell him that we got her."

Jack smirked. "As if we'd tell him anything else." He picked up the phone and flipped it open. "Hello?" He heard the voice on the other end and gave Max a look, letting him know that it was indeed their boss calling to check up on them. "Yep, we got her," he confirmed. "And it was surprisingly easy too. Where? That place that Stella said Katerina Petrova was hiding out. Looks to me like little miss Selina burned it down." He paused. "All right," he said after a moment. "Steve's got her. You want to talk to him?"

"The boss is calling already?" Steve asked as Jack handed the phone over to him. "It's a good thing we found her so early. I would hate to think what we would have had to tell him if we hadn't found her yet."

"Make sure you're still holding on to her while you talk," Max reminded Steve gently. "We don't want to bruise her any more then we already have."

"Do you really think it was a good idea to crash into her like that?" Jack asked Max. "The boss might not like that we bruised the merchandise."

"We had a good reason to do what we did," Max said quickly, taking one hand off the wheel to brush some of his auburn hair out of his eyes. "It was simpler to knock her out first. If we hadn't, then we would have had to chase her down; she would have had a chance to get away. Then, we would have had to go back empty handed."

Steve was having a difficult time holding on to Selina while talking on the phone. "I'm holding on to her right now," he assured his boss. "We should be back at the house pretty soon. Selina?" he looked down at the prone figure in his lap. "She's fine. She struggled a lot when we picked her up, but we finally got her to calm down and she's asleep now. All right, see you when we get back."

He shut the phone and handed it back to Jack, who was looking at him with admiration. "Wow," Jack said. "Lying to the boss; that takes guts."

"I wasn't lying," Steve protested as he centered Selina's body. "That's what would have happened if we would have taken the more difficult path of retrieval."

"Which we didn't do, so it was lying," Max finished for him, his green eyes flashing. "Instead of making up lies, we should be thinking up plausible explanations for what caused the bruising and the bad bump. Do you realize that we could be killed for this?"

"We'd still be making up lies," Steve pointed out. "Why do you think the boss was so insistent about getting her back to the house in one piece?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I overheard him mentioning that she was the key to something and they needed to keep her safe."

"I was in his room once and I saw a picture of her on his dresser, from awhile ago. I think he was in love with her at some point." Jack said.

"There's no point in speculating," Steve said. "He wouldn't tell us if we asked him."

They stayed silent after that, until they reached the hideout, a large Victorian mansion with one of the front windows lit. "Here," Steve said as soon as Max parked. "Could someone else grab her for a minute?"

Max nodded and took her out of Steve's arms, but as the transfer was taking place, she suddenly moved, moaning. "Geez!" Max cried, eyes wide. He started and grabbed her just before losing grip on her upper half.

"Let's just get her inside and lay her down," Jack said, putting the keys to the car in his pocket. "After all we've been through I wouldn't mind a little sleep myself."

When they got inside, all the lights were off. Steve snapped one on, and they placed Selina on the couch, putting a blanket over her before heading upstairs to their rooms. When they were nearly home free, they ran into Tommy.

"So you got her," he said. "Where is she?"

"Downstairs," Steve said immediately. "Would have brought her up with us Boss, but since she's asleep, she's really just a dead weight and I wouldn't want to drop her."

Tommy stared at them suspiciously for a moment, then said, "where downstairs did you put her?"

"On the red couch near the glass table," Max said quickly. "She's still asleep though, so try not to wake her up."

Tommy nodded before heading down the stairs. "Goodnight, boys," he said. "See you in the morning."

The trio replied in kind and then Tommy headed downstairs, where of course he had no trouble finding her. He squeezed between the table and the sofa, staring down at her. He moved some hair away from her face, breathing in sharply when he saw the bruises. "What happened to you?" he whispered. Just then, she whimpered and began to shift position, but the couch was so narrow that there wasn't enough room and she just ended up thrashing like a flipped turtle and landing back on her back. Sighing, Tommy sat down next to her and gently picked her up so that she was leaning against his chest with her head on his shoulder. Her breathing became even, and he could swear that she smiled. Kissing her forehead, he waited out the hours with her until morning.

Just as light was pouring through the windows, Selina groaned and opened her eyes, starting. "Tommy!" she cried in surprise. He gently helped her sit up and she looked around. "Where are we?" she asked. "The lights are on. We aren't at your house!" She paused as the pain hit. "What's going on with my head?" she asked. "I don't feel well at all."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Tommy asked.

"I was at Katherine's place," Selina said. "I mean the place she's hiding out at. I'd gotten some really bad news and I just finally decided it was time. I grabbed some matches and gasoline and drove there, and then I just torched the place."

"You burned Katherine's house down?" Tommy asked. "Was she inside?"

"Yes," Selina nodded, swaying dangerously. "Look," she said. "I really need to get to the bathroom or else I'm going to be sick all over the floor. And could you do something about the lights please? They're really bothering my eyes."

"Here," Tommy took her hand to steady her and led her to a nearby bathroom not a moment too soon. As soon he shut the door behind her, he heard the sounds of retching. After a few minutes, it stopped and the toilet flushed.

"Do you think you're finished?" he asked her as she emerged. "Or do you think we should keep you in there longer?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "I'll be all right for now." Even so, Tommy placed his hands around her waist to help her keep her balance as she walked back to the couch, sitting her down gently. "So," she asked again, "where are we?"

He averted his gaze. "I can't tell you that yet," he said. "But everything is okay. You'll have to trust me on that." He paused. "Do you need something for your head? Some ice or something for the bump?"

Selina gently leaned back. "Sure," she said. "But why can't you tell me where we are? Is it a secret?"

He hesitated. "No," he said finally. "It's not a secret, but I don't think you'd be very happy with me if I told you the truth. Just know that you're here because I love you and I want to protect you."

Selina felt her stomach sink. She'd heard that phrase or variations of it several times in both life and unlife and the actions that accompanied it never particularly ended well for her. "That's sweet," she said. "But I would much rather have the truth. What's so bad you can't tell me?"

"Promise you won't be mad?" he asked.

"I promise," Selina nodded.

"Well," he began, "remember that story I told you about how I'm still here?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you saw that gypsy lady because you were afraid of fighting for the Union and she put some spell on you that just about made you indestructible."

"Well," he took a deep breath. "That's not really the truth. I made it up."

"Really?" Selina said in surprise. "So you're a vampire after all?"

He nodded. "I am. But on the bright side, I'm hard to kill. I didn't make that up."

"I bet the gypsy lady did that for you," Selina smiled. "It's a shame she's not around anymore. I could use the extra protection in case the Originals get hold of me."

"Actually…" he began, but stalled at the hopeful look in her eyes. He tried again. "Actually….I have to go." He stood up and practically ran out of the room.

Selina started to call after him, but thought better of it. Turning back to the glass table, she began to trace the designs on the top, stopping when she heard another voice. "He didn't tell you, did he?" she said. "I didn't think he would."

"Rose," said Selina, standing up. "Could you tell me where it is I am? And why? Do you know what Tommy was trying to say?"

"Tommy," Rose laughed. "It's so weird to hear him called that. It's not really his name, you know. Although I suppose if you've been around for thousands of years, you can't help but want to change your identity every once in awhile."

"Thousands of years?" Selina's glance went to the archway through which Tommy had disappeared. Then, she turned back to Rose and gasped. "Are you saying that he's a-"

"Yes," Rose nodded. "He's an Original, all right. He couldn't be anything else."

"Oh, God," Selina said. "How can you be so calm about this? I could very well be dead any second."

"No you won't," Rose shook her head. "And that's exactly why you're here by the way. Tommy sent out three of his agents to come get you from Katerina Petrova's."

"I don't remember anyone coming to get me," Selina said carefully. "I set Katherine's house on fire with her locked inside. I watched for a little bit, started to drive back home, and then I realized that I was being followed, so I stopped on the side of the street and then got rear-ended and knocked out by my own steering wheel. That's the last thing I remember before this morning."

"That explains the bump," Rose said, coming to look at it. "How many of me do you see?"

"Two," Selina said promptly. "And I already threw up this morning."

"God, you've got a concussion, I think," Rose said. "I would have thought that Tommy would have sent some more intelligent guys to pick you up, but obviously he just recruited whoever he could find." She instructed Selina to lie down and then got an ice pack for her head. "Hold this," she instructed. "It'll bring the swelling down."

Just then, Max came down stairs, whistling through his teeth. "Morning, Rose," he said as he saw her.

"Looks like you handled things really well last night, Max," Rose said. "I believe Tommy specifically said he wanted Selina delivered concussed and ill."

"We didn't mean to," Max said quickly. "It was an accident. And it probably would have turned out the same way if we'd tried some other way besides rear ending her. You can't gently kidnap somebody. They always struggle."

"If you would have thought up a clever enough fib, then she wouldn't have struggled," Rose said. "You could have said that you were friends of Tommy's and he wanted to see her. Then, she would have come willingly and wouldn't have gotten hurt. So what are you going to tell him when he asks you what happened to her?"

"I don't know. I was too busy thinking about how to tell you that Elijah's coming back today and he's bringing Stella with him," Max said. "I'll figure out what to tell the boss."

"Who was that?" Selina asked, taking the ice off her head. "He was one of the guys who kidnapped me, wasn't he?"

"Yes," Rose nodded.

"Who was he talking about?" Selina asked, just as a car pulled up, and there was the sound of keys jingling in the front door. "Elijah," Rose whispered. "He's one of Klaus's foot soldiers."

Selina's eyes widened. "He knows Klaus?" She took the bag off her head and began rapidly striding toward the front door. "So long," she said to Rose. "I'd rather stay alive, thank you." But just as she got to the door and had it opened a crack, someone appeared before her and shut it. "Leaving so soon?" he asked. "I had hoped you wouldn't leave before I had a chance to introduce myself."

"I know who you are," Selina said, her voice shaking. "And I know what you want with me. That's why I want to get the hell out."

"You're shaking," he observed, reaching out for her. "Are you frightened of me?"

She stared at him in silence for a few moments before saying quietly, "I'd be stupid not to be."

"I don't understand why," he said. "I've heard you're quite fond of one of my associates and he and I are very much alike."

"I doubt it," Selina said, shaking her head. "Now please take your hand off the door so that I can go home."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," at the sound of the voice, Selina became momentarily distracted. "Stella?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

Stella shrugged. "My husband's out of town for a little while so I thought I should do something productive with myself."

Selina frowned. "You call consorting with the forces of evil 'being productive'?"

"Of course not," Stella shook her head. "Do you want to know why you were brought here?"

"Only since I've been awake," Selina said. "But no one will tell me."

"All right," Stella said, sitting down next to Rose. "You know that Klaus needs a doppelganger to help lift the curse, right?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded.

"And you also know that there are two available: you and Elena. Well, since we don't want you to be the one Klaus murders, we brought you here so you'll be more difficult to locate. Having you and Elena in the same space would be saying 'here I am, ripe for the picking'."

"What about him?" Selina nodded slightly at Elijah. "He's in on it with the rest of us," Stella confirmed. "I know you might find this hard to believe, but it's true."

"Klaus and I had a falling out several years ago," Elijah said. "I was in his inner circle, but then he threw me out. And ever since then, I've been on the lookout for Katerina Petrova, or her double, whose presence would draw him out because he'd want to kill her. It was always the plan to Sacrifice a Petrova, but you my dear are much prettier. The only thing Klaus enjoys more than a pretty girl is a dead pretty girl I would love nothing more than to destroy him, but I wouldn't want to see you be the bait. I've heard too many good things about you and your family to want that."

"Really?" Selina slowly began moving away from the door. "So if I believe you," she said, "and I'm not sure I do, this house is full of people who want Katherine and her line dead, and are hiding me so that Klaus will think he has no other choice."

"Exactly," Elijah nodded. "We want Klaus to go after Elena."

Selina had begun walking down the front steps and froze at this. "What?" she asked.

"We want Klaus to go after Elena," Elijah repeated. "I think he would prefer Katerina Petrova, but the doppelganger has to be human."

"But I'm not human," Selina protested.

"But you can be, can't you?" Elijah asked her. "You can be turned human."

"Oh, my—" Selina began biting her thumbnail. "You're right. I can be turned human and sacrificed if Klaus finds out where I am!"

"See?" Stella said, coming over to stand behind her, putting a firm hand on her shoulders. "That's why it's important for you to stay here with us."

"Did you see Selina this morning?" Damon asked. "She wasn't in bed when I woke up."

"No," Stefan said. "But she has to be here. Her car's in the driveway."

Damon groaned in frustration and began angrily punching numbers into his phone. "Would you go drive around the neighborhood and see if you see her?" he asked Stefan. Stefan nodded, but just as he reached the door, his phone rang. "Hello?" he asked. Elena was on the other end. She was crying and talking very fast. He listened for a moment, then said "of course I'll be there. Just a minute."

"What happened?" Damon asked.

Stefan sighed. "Elena was calling from the hospital. Apparently Bonnie got hurt last night and lost a lot of blood. The doctors did all they could but weren't able to save her. Elena needs me for moral support."

Damon nodded. "Go," he said. "Go and be with Elena. I can handle things here." Just as Stefan was leaving, Tyler came into the house. "Turn on the news," he said quickly. "They keep talking about Selina. Well, they don't mention her by name, but it's her." Damon grabbed the remote and flipped on the television. Flashing across the screen was a blurry picture of a woman being hauled out of her car by two men. They then put her in their car and drove away. "Selina's been kidnapped," Tyler said. "What should we do?"

"You," Damon said standing up, "aren't going to do anything. I'm going to find out whoever the hell took her and personally kill all of them. Slowly." He pulled out his phone again and dialed. "Hey Stella, it's Junior. You wouldn't happen to know where Selina is, would you? You do? I have been watching the news. She's fine? What the hell do you mean 'don't worry about it'? My wife was abducted in the middle of the night! It's all over the news for God's sake! You bet I'm going to worry. You tell me where she is right now!" He paused for a few moments, listening. Then, he shut his phone and slammed it down on the table, causing it to shatter.

"Junior?" Tyler asked, smirking.

"Oh, shut up," Damon snapped.

Just then, there was another knock at the door. Damon went to open it and when he saw who was on the other side, his eyes widened. There, on the front step, looking dirty, disheveled and irritated, was Katherine. "Bet you're surprised to see me," Katherine said, striding in.

"A little," Damon admitted. "Seeing as Selina set fire to your house last night. No wonder you still smell like smoke."

"It wasn't that difficult to get out," Katherine said dismissively. "A nice neighbor boy I've gotten to know released me. Now," she said, bringing her hands down hard on the coffee table. "Where's Elena? I have to talk to her."

"No you don't," Damon said immediately.

Katherine growled and put her hands around his throat, slamming him against a wall. "Tell me where she is," she said sharply. "Now."

"Hospital," Damon finally managed to choke out.

"Thank you," Katherine said as she released him. She left the house and a stunned Damon and Tyler behind.

Elena was sitting in Stefan's car wiping her eyes when she realized she wasn't alone. She leaned forward, looked in the side mirror, and gasped. "Katherine," she turned.

"Hello, Elena," Katherine said from the backseat.

"What do you want?" Elena asked.

"I just came to give you some friendly advice," Katherine said, moving up to sit beside her. "Pretty soon, Klaus will be here, and under ordinary circumstances, he would be out for your blood, but due to some quick thinking on my part, I arranged things so that another girl's family would make dopplegangers instead."

"I know," Elena said. "Andria Salvatore. And Selina's the other doppelganger."

"Exactly," Katherine smiled. "It's you or her. You know what you have to do, don't you?"

"No," Elena shook her head. "I won't do it. Selina's my friend. I won't betray her like you betrayed Stella."

Katherine smiled a bitter smile. "You say that now, Elena, but when Klaus comes, demanding your blood or hers, trust me, you'll be more than willing to throw Selina to the wolves. It's just the way of things."