"So, Sarah attacks Tyler, and he pushed her away, and she tripped, and she fell, and she hit her head." Caroline said.

Caroline called Damon and asked him and Buffy to come over, so that she could explain everything that had happened with Tyler at the masquerade party. "Does Matt remember anything?" Damon asked.

"Mmm, he thinks he blacked out."

"Mmm."

"But I think... I think they were both compelled by Katherine. That's why I covered for Tyler and said it was an accident."

"Yeah, I don't understand that. The guy's a tool."

"I agree." Buffy said, nodding her head.

"Well, gee, duh. Tyler getting blamed for Sarah's death just opens up questions that he can't answer. And do you guy's really think it's a good idea for him to tell his mom he's a werewolf?"

"Well, no." Damon said.

"And that werewolf road leads straight to vampire boulevard. I thought I was thinking fast on my feet."

"Where's your mom?" Buffy asked.

"Leading the search party for Aimee Bradley. They haven't found her body yet."

"Oh, teens today and their underage drinking. Tragic." Damon said, jokingly.

"Wait. Did you see Tyler's eyes turn yellow?" Buffy asked.

"More gold with amber highlights." Caroline explained. Damon groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can he turn into a wolf now?"

"Only on a full moon." Damon answered. "But now he has increased strength and who knows what else."

"I wonder how much Mason told him." Buffy said. "Did he say anything to you, Caroline? I mean, does he know about us?"

Caroline ignored Buffy's question and looked down at her phone. "Hey." Damon said. "What'd you tell him?"

"Nothing, really." Caroline shrugged. "I... I don't think he knows much of anything. He seemed really freaked out, and honestly... I felt kinda bad for him."

"He's gotta know something."

"All right. I'll ask him." Caroline said, as she started to walk away.

Suddenly, Damon was in front of her, blocking her path. "No, you won't, Caroline. He cannot know about us. A bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire. So don't be his friend. Do you understand me?"

Caroline nodded her head. "I understand. I'm late for school."

When Damon didn't move, Buffy sighed. "Damon. Move."

"Right." Damon said, as he moved to the side to let Caroline past him. "If you want to drop the hint to your mom that Aimee's body is at the bottom of the ravine with a cracked spine, it might save your mom some time."

Stefan had called Buffy and told her that Elena was missing. He told her to meet him at the high school. And since Damon was already with her, he tagged along.

"This has Katherine written all over it." Stefan said.

"Katherine's in the tomb." Damon said. "Trust me. I'm the one who shut her in."

"Did you?"

"Did I what, Stefan?"

"Well, I know the hold that Katherine has on you."

"She's in the tomb. Period. End of story."

"Damon's right, Stefan." Buffy said, nodding her head. "I watched him seal the door shut. Katherine is in the tomb."

"But she did say something to me right before I shut her in." Damon admitted. "I thought she was lying."

"What did she say?" Stefan asked.

"Elena's in danger." Buffy said. "She said that Elena was in danger. That she had to be protected."

"What, and you two didn't think you should ask her to elaborate?"

"Everything she says is a lie. How are we supposed to know if she's gonna start spouting off the truth?" Damon asked.

"We have to go talk to her."

"No, no. Let me tell you how that's gonna go. We're gonna go ask her for help. She's gonna negotiate her release, which we're gonna be dumb enough to give her, and then she's gonna get out and kill us."

"Damon's right." Buffy agreed. "That's exactly what she wants."

"I don't really care." Stefan said.

"It's a bad idea, Stefan." Damon grumbled.

"It's Elena."

"Exactly." Buffy nodded. "It's Elena. Which is why you're not thinking clearly. Because if you were, you'd see what a bad idea this really is. Not to mention, dumb."

"Well, what would you do, Buffy?"

"A spell."

"A spell? How is a spell going to help us right now?"

"We'll do a locator spell. Look, Willow hasn't left yet. We'll just ask her to do it. It's a simple spell."

"A locator spell."

"Yes."

Stefan sighed. "All right." He nodded. "We'll give it a try."

"Are you sure you can do this?" Stefan asked, as Willow was getting everything ready for the spell.

"Yeah." Willow nodded. "Locator spells are pretty simple."

"Told you so." Buffy said.

"Ok. So, I'll need a map." Willow said.

"A map of Mystic Falls?" Stefan asked.

"Better make it a map of the whole state. You know, just to be safe."

"Got it." Stefan said, holding up the map.

"All right. Now all we need is Jeremy."

"I'm here." Jeremy announced, as he suddenly walked into the room.

Buffy looked at Willow, confused. "Will, did you just..." She pointed to Jeremy.

"I didn't do it." Willow said.

"I called him." Damon said. "Figured he might want to know what was going on."

"Good thinking. Because we need him for this spell to work properly." Willow laid the map out on a table in the library.

"How does this work?" Jeremy asked.

"Well..." Willow started, as she lit a few candles. "I'll use your blood to draw energy for the locator spell."

"My blood?"

Willow nodded. "You're blood- related. So, it'll make the connection stronger."

"Ok."

"Are you ready?" Willow asked. Jeremy nodded his head, nervously. Willow picked up a knife and slowly cut into the palm of Jeremy's hand. "Now, let the blood fall onto the map." Jeremy closed his hand into a fist, and let a few drops of blood fall onto the map. Willow closed her eyes and started to chant softly. The drops of blood connected, forming one drop, and then moved across the map. Finally, the blood stopped. "There." Willow pointed to where the blood had stopped. "She's there."

"That's 300 miles away." Jeremy said.

"Willow, we need a more exact location than that." Said Stefan.

"That's as close as I can get." Willow sighed.

"We can map it, get an aerial view. It'll show us what's around there, help us narrow down the area." Jeremy suggested.

"Perfect." Stefan nodded.

"Thank you, Willow." Buffy said, as she hugged the redhead.

"No problem, Buff." Willow smiled, hugging her back.

"Jeremy, call us with whatever you find." Stefan said, as he walked towards the door. "Damon, Buffy, let's go."

"I'm coming with you." Jeremy said.

"No, Jeremy, you're not."

"We need weapons." Buffy said.

"We'll stop by Alaric's. Get him to stock us up."

"I'm not gonna just sit here. What if she's hurt, ok?" Jeremy argued.

"Jeremy..." Buffy started.

"Or worse? What if she's..."

"She's not. Go back to your house just in case. Call Bonnie. Fill her in on what's going on." Stefan said. "I'm gonna call you the minute we find her."

"Let's go." Damon said.

"We'll find her, Jeremy." Buffy said. "I promise."

Buffy, Damon and Stefan were in the car driving down the highway. Damon was in the driver's seat, with Buffy sitting next to him in the passenger seat, and Stefan was sitting in the backseat with all of the weapons.

"Alaric sure likes his weapons." Damon said. He looked over and noticed Buffy playing around with something. "What the hell is that?"

"Well, it's a vervain bomb or grenade launcher." Buffy explained. "Or something like that. Alaric made it."

"Weird."

"Hey, how much further is it?" Stefan asked.

"About 80 miles." Damon answered.

"Who do you think took her?"

"If I had to guess... Probably someone from Katherine's past." Buffy said. " I mean, she did say she was running from someone."

"Maybe they got the wrong girl." Damon said, hopefully.

"Thank you. Both of you, for helping me." Stefan said.

"Can we not do the whole road-trip bonding thing? The cliche of it all makes me itch."

"Shut up." Buffy said, as she slapped Damon's arm. "You're very welcome, Stefan."

Stefan grinned. "Oh, come on, Damon. We both know that you being in this car has nothing to do with me, anyway."

"The elephant in the room let's out a mighty roar." Damon said, sarcastically.

"Well, it doesn't have to be an elephant." Stefan moved closer to the front, so that he could see Damon better. "Let's talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about." Damon chuckled.

"That's not true. Sure there is. Let's get it out. I mean, are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save a girl he loves, or is it... is it because Buffy's in this car? Hmm?" Buffy looked over at Damon, her expression unreadable. "I mean, come on. Express yourself. I happen to like road-trip bonding."

"Keep it up, Stefan. I can step out of helping as easily as I stepped in."

"Nope. See, that's the beauty of it. You can't." Stefan looked over at Buffy, who was looking out the window.

"We're getting close." Stefan said. "Jeremy said there's an access road just past mile marker 6."

Damon reached down between Buffy's legs and opened the small cooler. He pulled out two blood bags, and handed one to Buffy. He started to drink from his. "If you want some, just ask." Damon said, as Stefan looked at him.

"I want some." Stefan said.

"Aww, that's so sweet. Gonna be all big and strong to save your girl." Damon mocked. "Well, don't worry. Buffy and I have your back. You'll be fine."

"I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little every day, slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength."

Buffy handed her blood bag to Stefan. "Drink up."

"Thanks." Stefan took the bag and began drinking from it.

"Does Elena know you're drinking blood?" Damon asked.

"I've been drinking hers."

"Hmm. How romantic."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Damon. Just shut up and drink your blood."

Damon took a big sip and smirked. "Since we're road-trip bonding, remember the days when all you lived for was blood, you were the guy who would rip someone apart just for the fun of it?"

Stefan nodded his head. "You mean when I was more like you?"

"Yes, Stefan. Exactly. Back when you put blood into me so I could be a big, bad vampire. Wonder if Elena would be so quick to open her veins to that guy? By the way, what happened to that guy? He was a hoot."

"Guess he found something else to live for."

"What's the matter, Damon? Jealous because no one will open their veins for you, without being compelled or forced?" Buffy smirked.

Stefan chuckled and looked over at Damon. "You think you're so funny." Damon grumbled.

"There's the access road." Buffy pointed out. Damon turned off onto the road and parked a few miles in. They all got out of the car, Stefan carrying the weapons bag.

"The house should be just beyond those trees." Damon said.

"Wait." Buffy ran in front of Stefan and blocked his path. "I've got a little more experience than you do with this sort of thing."

"So what's your point?" Stefan asked.

"My point is whoever has Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that."

"And... Again, what's your point?"

"So, it puts them at 500 years old and strong. I'm 865... So, I'm a lot stronger than you. Which means I've got a better chance at fighting them. Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah, I'm certain I wanna do it."

"Just checking. 'Cause we go in that house, we might not come back out."

"All right. Then I won't come out."

"So noble, Stefan." Damon said.

Stefan scoffed. "I can't think of a better reason to die. But if you want to stay here, Damon, I'll totally understand." Stefan and Buffy turned and started walking towards the house.

Once they reached the house, Buffy stopped. "What's wrong?" Damon asked.

"There's two vampires. Old vampires." Buffy said.

"Ok. Here's the plan." Damon looked at both Stefan and Buffy. "Me and Stefan will go in first. Wait a few minutes and then you come in and distract, while we grab Elena."

Buffy nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Buffy." Stefan whispered. Buffy turned around and looked at him. "Are you sure you can handle two of them?"

"I'll be fine, Stefan."

"Come on." Damon said.

Buffy stood on the front porch, waiting. 'Come on, guys. Hurry up.' She thought to herself. She heard glass shattering.

"What is that?" She heard a male voice ask.

"I don't know." Said the female.

"Who else is in this house?"

"I don't know."

"Move." The male commanded. Buffy heard footsteps, as they moved through the house. They were now in front of the front door. She heard Damon and Stefan moving around the room. "Rose."

"I don't know who it is." Rose said.

'Rose? Where have I heard that name before?' Buffy thought.

"Up here." Stefan called out. Buffy heard one of the vamps run upstairs.

"Down here." Damon called.

"Excuse me." The male called out. "To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't. You hear that? I repeat... You cannot beat me. So I want the girl on the count of 3, or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"

"I'll come with you." Elena said.

'That's my cue.' Buffy thought. She kicked the doors down and walked inside. What she saw, however, was not what she had been expecting. "Elijah?" She whispered.

"Buffy?" Elijah asked. He walked towards her, never taking his eyes off of her. "Is it really you?" Once he reached her, he stopped.

"Elijah... What are you... What are you doing?"

"Oh, Buffy..." Elijah smiled. "I have missed you."

"You took Elena?"

"No."

"But... She's here."

"Yes. But i did not take her."

"Then let her go."

"I'm afraid I cannot."

"Elijah."

"Oh, I've missed you, Buffy." Elijah reached out and touched Buffy's hair. "You're still so beautiful."

"What do you want with Elena?"

"That's nothing for you to worry about."

"You can't have her, Elijah." Buffy said, as she looked into his eyes. "She's coming with me. I'm taking her home."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Buffy." Elijah removed his hand from Buffy's hair.

"Elijah... Please..."

"You left."

"Yes."

"You left, and now you give me an order and expect me to bow down to you?" Elijah shook his head.

"You know why I left." Buffy's voice was hard.

Elijah nodded. "Yes. But you still left. I looked for you, you know."

Buffy was speechless. What was she supposed to say? She never expected him to look for her. "I... Why?"

Elijah scoffed. "Do you really have to ask?"

"I'm sorry."

"What's done is done." He turned his attention back to Elena, who was standing at the top of the stairs. "Now, you were saying?"

"I'll come with you. Just please don't hurt my friends. They just wanted to help me out." Elena said.

Suddenly, Elijah was standing in front of Elena. "What game are you playing with me?" Elena pulled the pin on the vervain bomb and tossed it at Elijah. "Ahh!" Elijah screamed in pain. He looked up at Elena, his skin burned. But almost immediately, it healed. He started walking towards Elena, but Stefan appeared and shot him with Alaric's compressed air stake launcher. It didn't even faze Elijah.

'Elijah will kill him.' Buffy thought. Buffy ran up the stairs and was suddenly standing in front of Elijah. She shoved him backwards, but he grabbed onto her, so they both went tumbling down the stairs. Elijah stood up once they reached the bottom, as did Buffy.

"I don't want to hurt you, Buffy." Elijah said.

"You're not going to let her go without a fight." Buffy said. Buffy ran towards Elijah and backhanded him across the face. Elijah's head didn't even move. He punched her in the face and she heard and felt her jaw bone crack. Buffy did a roundhouse kick, knocking Elijah off balance enough for her to advance. She delivered a series of punches and kicks to his face, sides, chest and legs. Elijah blocked most of them.

"Do not forget who taught you how to fight." Elijah said, as he caught her fist before she could land her punch. He crushed her hand. Buffy cried out in pain. "I didn't want this." Elijah kicked out, sending her flying into the wall on the other side of the room. Her head made a sickening crack, as it connected with the wall.

Buffy stood up, slowly. Elijah advanced on her once again. He punched her in the sturnum, cracking it. He then kneed her in the face, breaking her nose. Buffy head-butted him, causing him to back up a few steps. She ran at him and jumped up, her legs wrapped around his head. She used her momentum and flipped them, so that Elijah landed on the ground beneath her. She then began raining punches down on his face.

Elijah kicked her away, and she landed on the floor, hard. He walked over to her and lifted her up by her throat, holding her a few inches above the ground, so that her feet dangled in the air. Elijah looked into her eyes. "I don't like hurting you."

"You could have fooled me." Buffy groaned out.

Elijah sighed. "You should have known better than to try and fight me. I'm stronger than you. I will always win." Buffy spat her blood in his face. Elijah growled and tossed her across the room. She broke through the banister and landed painfully against the wall. She didn't move. Elijah moved towards her, but Damon appeared and staked Elijah with a broken coat rack. He shoved it through Elijah's heart and pinned him against the wall.

Damon rushed over to Buffy. "Buffy..." He turned her over onto her back. "Oh, God." There was blood everywhere. And she was covered in cuts and bruises. "Why aren't you healing?" Damon gently touched her cheek.

Stefan and Elena rushed down the stairs and stopped next to Damon. "Buffy?" Elena asked.

"Why isn't she healing?" Stefan asked.

"I don't know." Damon gently lifted her into his arms. "We need to get her home. She needs to feed."

"There's so much blood." Elena cried. "She's stronger than the both of you... How can she be so broken?"

"He was stronger." Damon carried Buffy outside, as they made their way back to the car.

Damon was pouring himself a drink, when Stefan walked in. "Where's Elena?"

"She's home." Stefan said.

"And you're here why?"

"Because she wanted to be with Jeremy."

"Here." Damon handed Stefan his drink and poured himself another one.

"Thanks. Listen, um, what Rose told Elena about the curse..."

"I know. We'll keep her safe."

"How's Buffy?"

"Not good. She woke up long enough to drain a blood bag and then she passed out again. Even then she wasn't completely awake. She's starting to heal, but just barely. Not at the rate she should be, anyway."

"Hey."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"For being the guy who made you turn 145 years ago."

"Enough, Stef. It's late. And I need to go check on Buffy. We Don't need to rehash that."

"You know what? I've never said it out loud. I guess I just need to say it, and you need to hear it. I'm sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn't want to be alone. Guess I just needed my brother. Go on. Go check on Buffy. I'll see you in the morning."

Damon walked into his room and shut the door. He moved over to the bed and sat down, careful to not move around too much. He looked down at Buffy. "I wish you would wake up." Damon whispered. Buffy whimpered and began to toss and turn. Damon sighed and cupped her cheek. "It's ok. I'm here."

*Buffy's Dream*

Buffy walked through the forest, snow crunching beneath her bare feet. She saw a figure standing just ahead of her, so she continued to walk towards it. She stopped mere inches away.

"Hello, Buffy." He said.

"Why am I here?" She asked.

"I wanted to see you. You saw Elijah today."

Buffy nodded. "Yes."

He frowned and looked at her, his expression a mixture of pity and sadness. "He did a number on you."

Buffy looked down and saw the bruises and cuts on her arms. She felt the blood running down her face. "Those should have healed by now."

"Getting beat up by an original is different. You should remember that."

Buffy nodded. "I remember. But it's never taken me this long to heal."

"You'll heal. In time."

Buffy looked at him, suspiciously. "You did something. To me. That's why I'm not healing."

He smiled. "You always were a smart one."

"What did you do?"

"You shouldn't worry. You'll heal. I promise."

"How did you know? About Elijah?"

"I know everything when it comes to you."

"What does he want with Elena?"

"All in due time."

"Why is he here? Why now?"

"You'll soon find out. I'll see you soon, my sweet Buffy."

*End Dream*

*Hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading =)*