An hour later, the girls were waiting. Elena had a vervain dart in her hand. "Okay, just cause we're being careful, it doesn't mean paranoid?"

"Nessa, in the past year I've been kidnapped and nearly killed several times. I'm not taking any chances." Elena pointed out. The door opened and Damon came in. "I called you an hour ago."

He handed her a bag. "Make yourself presentable. I know where Stefan's going to be tonight."

"I told you that I was practically discovered by Klaus and you're worried about what I'm wearing?" Elena asked.

"Dude, it was really close. I could barely remember to cloak her from them." Vanessa told him. "But we're okay. So what's the plan?"

"I'll distract Klaus while you two deal with Stefan." Damon said.

"Thank you." Elena said.

"Just try not to almost get killed this time." Vanessa said. "Being scared for you once a week is enough for us."

"So you heard of our mountain trip."

"We're witches, there's no secrets between witches." Vanessa pointed out.

"We can do this." Elena said.

Back in Mystic Falls, Liz, Tyler, Terra, and Lea were all underground. "They're definetly up ahead."

"I should've known." Liz said. "This place was a torture facility for vampires."

"That explains why I've been sensing Caroline in pain."

"Nobody hurts my best friends." Lea said angrily.

"That goes double for me." Tyler said.

"I'm not letting my jerk of an ex hurt my daughter ever again." Liz told them.

"They're up ahead."

"Quiet, the door's opening!" Tyler said. They all tensed as a man stepped out. Liz held her gun toward him.

"Hello Bill."

"Put the gun down, Liz. I know what I'm doing." Bill said.

"By torturing our friend?" Lea asked. Flame instantly appeared in her hand.

"That's our daughter in there. She looks up to you. She loves you." Liz said.

"Then she'll trust me to do the right thing. Let me do this, Liz. Not because she's a monster. But because we love her."

"You're the monster." Terra said. "You're hurting a very close friend of ours, Mr. Forbes. Or should we even call you that?"

"Tyler, Lea, go." Liz said. They both headed downstairs.

"You're not going in there."

"Try to stop us." Lea said, holding the fire close to him. She burned part of the chain off the door while Tyler opened it.

"Guys." Caroline said. Lea gasped. She was in bad condition.

"It's okay, we're going to get you out of here." Tyler told her. Terra ran in and all three of them managed to get the chains off her together.

"My ring."

"There it is!" Terra said. She pointed to a spot on the ground. Tyler picked it up and placed it on her finger. Then he carried her out of there.

The four of them then took off. "Are you okay, Care?" Liz asked.

"I feel so weak."

"I think she needs blood." Lea said. "We'll take her home."

"I'll have the guys make sure he doesn't leave." Liz told them. They started to head back home.

"How did you find me?" Caroline asked.

"It was all because of Autumn. If she hadn't stepped up, we never would've found you."

"I thought you seemed familiar." Terra said. "You two visited that spa in Penn Springs when we were kids, didn't you?"

"No way. You two know each other?" Lea asked.

"My mom and I used to go there to prepare for school dances." Terra explained.

"Wait, you're real name's Autumn?" Tyler asked.

"Please don't tell anyone." Terra said. "I changed it to Terra after I started training with Aunt Lucy."

Outside a local bar, Elena and Vanessa were waiting. "Are you sure it'll be safe for us to be out here?"

"Hey, don't worry. I'll protect you if anyone other than the guys come."

"Thank you. You know, you didn't have to come out here."

"I wanted to, Elena." Vanessa said. "Believe it or not, I actually love visiting other towns and cities. Ever since I was little, I dreamed of being free to travel. Now, after developing powers and meeting you guys, it feels great being able to travel with my friends."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Elena said.

"You know, when I was little, I almost wanted to be a vampire myself." Vanessa said. "Of course, the blood thing would probably be a bit of a set back, but it still seemed pretty cool."

"They're here." Elena said. "We better be careful. From what Damon said, I don't think he'll exactly be thrilled to see me."

A few minutes later, the three of them were in the parking lot. "You shouldn't be here." Stefan pointed out.

"Where else would I be?" Elena asked.

"What do you want? Damon won't be able to distract Klaus for long." Stefan pointed out. Elena embraced him.

"Come home." She said. She had a vervain dart in her hand, but he caught her wrist, hurting her. Just then, a strong wind separated the two.

"Go easy on her, Stef." Vanessa said. "You have any idea what the six of us have been through to find you?"

"I can't come home." He told them. "Klaus is obsessed with siring these hybrids. The second he knows you're alive, he'll figure out why it's not working."

"I know you're trying to protect me, but you have to come back." Elena told him. "I really miss you, Stefan."

"Even if I could, it'll never be the same, Elena."

"I know that."

"I don't think you do. I've left bodies scattered from Florida to Tennessee. Innocent people. Humans."

"Lexi found you like this before. In the twenties, and... And she saved you." Elena pointed out.

"And you know what I did after that? I spent thirty years trying to pull myself together. To a vampire, that's nothing. To you? That's half your life."

"We can't give up on you, Stefan." Elena said.

"Yes, you can. It's done. That part of my life is done. I don't want to see you. I don't want to be with you. I just want you to go." He said.

"Stefan, you of all people should know, that we Guardians don't give up." Vanessa said. "We'll find a way to save you."

"I need to go, please don't try to find me again." Stefan told them. He left the girls there.

"You okay?"

"Not really."

"Well, let's wait for Damon. We can't get back to Mystic Falls without him." Vanessa said. She held Elena. "Look, I meant what I said. We won't give up on Stefan. Not now, anyway."

Back in Mystic Falls, the girls were at Caroline's house. Marina was sitting next to Caroline on the bed, healing some of her minor burns. Sheriff Forbes was with her daughter.

"Honey, your dad... All our families, we have beliefs that have been passed on through generations. And we were taught never to stray from them." She explained.

"You did."

"You taught me to look at things in a different way." Liz told her. "You all did, actually." Marina glanced at her, smiling.

"I just thought that he was the one who got me." Caroline told her.

"He did. He will again."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to work things out with him." Marina told her.

"Will she be okay?"

"My magic's sped up the healing process." Marina explained. "She'll be fully healed soon."

"Hey, Mom? Thanks for believing in me." Caroline said. She left, and the rest of the group came in.

"Would now be a bad time to give you crap about sneaking out on me?" Tyler asked her.

"Ty, please. It's been a rough day for her." Lea said.

"At least she's okay, that's what really counts." Terra pointed out. Caroline smiled at them, but she still seemed pretty upset. Tyler went over to her and held her close as she cried.

"He hates me. My dad hates me." She said.

"No he doesn't." Marina said. "He just doesn't see it our way."

"Neither do most witches." Terra pointed out. "Apart from a few witches and Guardian witches, none of them really seem to get it."

"At least Emily had principles." Lea said. "But I hope you work it out with your family, Care. I never got to work things out with mine."

"You won't hate us if we go, right?" Marina asked.

"I think I'll be fine with Tyler here." Caroline told them. "Thanks for saving me back there."

"Anytime." The girls headed into the hall.

"What's up?"

"Vanessa just called." Marina said. "Things didn't go well in Chicago."

"Well, we'll all feel better tomorrow." Lea pointed out.

"I hope so. Things are starting to fall apart around here." Terra said.