"I have to apologize to you one more time," Elijah said, coming up behind Selina. "I really behaved horribly, didn't I?"

Selina turned around from the bowl of chocolate chip cookie batter she was stirring and offered him the spoon. "Here," she said. "Have some. It's good."

"I don't know," Elijah shook his head.

"Oh, come on!" Selina wiggled spoon at him, a twinkle in her eye. "It won't kill you, if that's what you're worried about. And you don't have to keep apologizing. Stuff happens. We got it fixed up. And it really wasn't so bad. At least not until the end."

"Yes," Elijah cleared his throat and backed away, once again refusing her offer of the spoon. "All right fine," Selina said. "More cookie batter for me. You're really missing out."

"I think I'll go read in my office," Elijah told her. "Good luck with all this." He darted out of the kitchen before Selina could protest and she giggled and shook her head. The poor guy was so shy around her now. He had been ever since Alistair and Lenora had given him his sense back. Grinning, she put the spoon down and went to his office door, knocking on it. "Can I come in?" She called. "I think we have to talk."

"No, we don't!" Elijah called back.

"Yes, we do!" Selina answered. "You've been unnecessarily skittish around me lately and I think it's time we talked about why."

"We'll talk about it when I want to talk about it," Elijah said curtly when he opened the door. "Until then, just leave it alone, will you?"

"Awwww!" Selina gave him a sad smile. "You look like you need a hug. Do you want me to give you a hug?"

"No," Elijah said firmly. "I want you to leave and go about your business while I do my work. That is what I want. If I need you for anything, I will come to you. Goodbye." He shut the door, and Selina stood staring at it in silence before sighing and heading back to the kitchen to stir the cookie batter.

She didn't see Elijah again for the rest of the day, and when she ran into him that night, just before bedtime, she didn't know what to expect. "So what will it be?" She asked. "Separate beds or the same one? It's up to you."

"Well," Elijah swallowed. "I think it might be best, at least for tonight, if I take the spare bedroom and you sleep in our room. Is that all right? Understand that I'm not mad at you or anything. This is really my problem, not yours, but-"

"I get it," Selina interrupted. "You want to be alone tonight. I understand." She kissed him on the cheek. "Sleep well."

Elijah nodded. "You too."

Selina wished him goodnight one more time, but instead of going to bed herself, she stayed up to read. Her book was so good that she couldn't put it down. Finally, she forced herself to take a break and stick a bookmark at her stopping point. She looked up at the clock, startled to realize that it was just after midnight.

"I better get to bed," she whispered to herself. "I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow." She began walking toward her room, but stopped next to the half-open door of the spare bedroom where Elijah was. She looked in on him and tried not to laugh too hard. He'd been so tired, he hadn't even bothered to tuck himself in even though the covers had been pulled aside. It was as if he'd thought about tucking himself in, but then decided that it was just too much work and dropped off on top of his blankets. He was clad only in his favorite navy blue boxers, his hair stuck up at odd angles, and there was drool on his pillow.

"Wow," Selina smiled to herself. "So not turned on right now. But at the same time, it's kind of cute." She snuck into Laura's room and over to her daughter's stuffed animal shelf. On the far right was a medium-sized stuffed lion. Selina carefully slid it out of its spot, along with a much smaller teddy bear and took them both from the room, leaving her daughter's door slightly ajar so that some light could get in.

Her next stop was Elijah's room. He still looked as he had before. Moving him carefully so that he wouldn't wake up, she managed to get him tucked in. She slipped the smiling lion under the crook in his arm, kissed his forehead, and then went to her room, where, clutching the small bear, she was able to get to sleep relatively quickly.

"Good morning," Selina greeted Elijah the next day as she came into the kitchen and found him standing near the coffee pot. "How did you sleep last night? Okay?"

Elijah turned and locked eyes with her. "Could you tell me why I woke up holding onto a stuffed lion? It wasn't in my bed when I went to sleep."

Selina nodded. "I know it wasn't. I put it there before I went to bed. I hated the idea of you sleeping alone."

"But why a lion?" Elijah asked.

"Well," Selina walked closer to him and took his hand. "You kinda remind me of a lion, you know? You're strong and feared and you like to think you rule over everything, but without a woman in your life, you wouldn't be able to take care of yourself as well."

Elijah rolled his eyes and grinned, putting an arm around her. "So if I'm a lion," he said with a smirk, "Where's the rest of my harem of lionesses? I'd be interested to know." He rubbed his hands and licked his bottom lip.

Selina shook her head and put her hands on his cheeks so that he was looking right at her. "You don't get a harem of lionesses. You're a special kind of lion who is monogamous. I insist on it."

Elijah grinned and kissed her hand. "Oh, okay," he said. "If you insist on it, I suppose I could forgo a harem of lionesses just to make you happy."

" You better," Selina replied with mock severity. She leaned against him. "You seem to be in a much better mood this morning."

"Yes," Elijah said, running his fingers through Selina's hair. "I do feel much better. Well enough to talk about certain things."

Selina looked up in amazement. "Really? Are you sure?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Let's talk about it right after breakfast so I don't lose my nerve."

"Okay," Selina said about half an hour later. She and Elijah went into his office together and sat in chairs on either side of his desk. "If we're gonna talk about what happened, where would you like to start?"

"Let's start with the end of it," Elijah replied. "That's the least painful."

"All right," Selina nodded. "Let's. I came up to Alistair's door and I was not happy with you..."

"What the hell were you thinking?" Selina asked as she pulled Elijah out the door. "What were you trying to prove? Seriously, you are the most horrible person, and-" She paused as she locked eyes with him and saw that he was still smirking. Her angry words had no effect on Elijah, at least not in the state he was in. She took a deep breath to calm herself and looked him in the eye. "You know what?" She began again. "I'm doing this all wrong. I shouldn't be yelling at you. I should be apologizing instead."

That got a reaction out of him. "What?" He asked, looking confused. "Why? Why would you feel you need to apologize to me?"

"Because you're really fucked up right now, aren't you?" She asked. "I mean, there's no other way to describe it. You're acting like your brother did when things started getting really bad between us, and I have a feeling it's somewhat my fault, so I'm sorry."

"How is it your fault?" Elijah asked. "I asked Lenora to make me this way on my own. You had nothing to do with it."

"Well, yeah, you did," Selina nodded. "Would you have asked her to make you that way if I hadn't mentioned I wanted you to be a bit more adventurous?"

"Well, no," Elijah admitted. "But it's really not a problem, so-"

"Yes, it is a problem!" Selina yelled, stomping her foot. "I shouldn't tell you how to be. It's not my place. Next time I say you need to be more exciting, just tell me to buzz off, or whatever the refined version of that is. You should be however you wanna be. Are you happy being like this? You told me before that the only reason why you changed is because that's what you thought I wanted."

"Well, yes," Elijah nodded. "But you don't want it anymore, do you? I guess it's lucky that Alistair's gone to find Lenora, isn't it? So I can be back to normal, like you want."

"Please don't focus on what I want anymore," Selina begged him. "The whole point of my apology is that I want what you want. If you wanna be bad, all the more power to you. If you wanna have get your sense back from Alistair, start dressing in your suits again and spend your days in your office, that's good with me too, as long as it makes you happy."

Elijah sighed. "Well, thank you," he said. "Honestly, I can't wait for Alistair to get back. But while we're waiting, you wouldn't mind a sort of 'last hurrah', would you?"

"Maybe," Selina said, grinning. "What sort of thing do you have in mind?"

"Maybe what I did in the dream?" He said. "Just a little bit, though. Nothing as intense as what you and Niklaus used to do, of course."

Selina thought a moment. "Well," she said finally, "I have always been intrigued to see how having your blood in my system would affect me."

He grabbed her hand and they went inside and up to one of the bedrooms, locking the door behind them. Selina removed her top and looked up at him. "Okay," she said. "Go ahead."

"No, no!" Elijah shook his head. "That's not enough. Was that how you and Niklaus used to do it?"

"Well, no," she admitted. "But-"

"I want to do this exactly the way you and Niklaus used to do it," Elijah said. "I refuse to be cheated out of the full experience."

"Fine," Selina sighed and undressed the rest of the way. "The game was nothing remarkable, really," she said quietly. "It was just sex like usual and then he'd get so worked up that he'd bite me and then give me some of his blood to compensate for the bite. And sometimes, I'd bite him. That's all."

"All right," Elijah said. "Seems simple enough." He undressed, then put her over his shoulder, carrying her to the bed, laying her down, then climbing beside her so that he was looking down into her eyes.

"I've never told you this before," he said. "But occasionally, I dream about what it would have been like to be able to turn you into a vampire. What it would be like to bite into your soft, white throat..." He stroked down her neck and grinned, kissing her lips and pushing into her as he kissed down her neck. Then, as she shrieked, he bit her. Her blood spurted onto his hand and he slowly licked it off. "You're very sweet," he said. "Did you know that?"

"I've been told," Selina agreed. "I'm glad you like me." They fooled around for a little while longer, and then the door to the bedroom opened. "Here you are!" Alistair said. Then he noticed the positions Elijah and Selina were in. "Sorry," he said. "We'll come back later." He turned back to the door and shouted into the hallway. "Don't come in, Lenora. It'll take a little longer until Elijah is ready to have his sense back."

"Why?" Lenora asked, ignoring her grandfather's command. "What is he doing in there?" She poked her head in and her eyes widened. "Oh," she said. "I think I'll go." She left and Alistair shut the door behind him.

"Did that kill the mood?" Selina asked Elijah.

He nodded. "Yes, it did. But we got to have some fun beforehand. That's the important thing."

They got out of bed and dressed, then Selina told Alistair he and Lenora could come in. Alistair came in first and then Lenora followed, holding a box. She put it down on the bed and looked at Elijah. "Open your mouth," she ordered. He opened his mouth and she opened the box. The smoky substance that was Elijah's sense flew out of the box and into Elijah's mouth, the force of it pushing him back into the wall.

"I'm sorry!" Lenora said when it was all over. She went to crouch next to Elijah. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I think I'll be okay," Elijah replied as he struggled to sit up. He then looked at Selina, his eyes wide. "Darling, why is your neck covered in blood?"

Selina quickly wiped it off. "You were loopy without your sense, so you asked if we could play the biting game and we did."

"My god," Elijah said, coming toward her, shaking. "Did I hurt you? Please tell me I didn't hurt you."

"Well, no," Selina answered. "I'm fine, I promise. Are you okay?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "I'm all right now." He stood up and led her into the bathroom to clean the blood off her hands and neck. When she was clean, they came out again. "We're going to go home now," Elijah said. He looked at Lenora. "Thank you, dear," he told her. "I don't think I'll be asking you to do any spells for me any time soon."

"And we went home and you were quiet after that," Selina pointed out. "Why? Were you embarrassed?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "Not embarrassed. Just kind of...ashamed of something of the things I did. And that it just became way too much and I had to turn back."

"Why would you be ashamed to have to turn back?" Selina asked him. "Personally, I think we were more than ready."

Elijah sighed and gave her a sad smile. "I don't know if you really understand why I had Lenora do that spell for me," he said. "I did it because I wanted you to look at me the way you always looked at Niklaus. I wanted you to be as attracted to me sexually as you are to him. I wanted you to see me as bad and dangerous, rather than just the man who wears the suits and makes your life miserable."

"You don't make my life miserable!" Selina assured him. "You're reliable and dependable and I would be a mess without that."

"Wonderful," Elijah sighed. "I get to be Lassie."

"Now just listen to me," Selina said. "You are all the stuff I said before most of the time and that's really not a bad thing. But just a hint, when you wear those jeans and nothing else, it makes me unable to speak because you look so hot! You better not get rid of those!"

"Is that so?" Elijah asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah!" Selina said enthusiastically. "You have such a hot body. Why don't you show it off more often?"

"Because there are times to show it off and times not to," Elijah replied. "And really, could you honestly tell me that you'd have the same reaction to my body if you saw it all the time?"

"Yes!" Selina nodded insistently. "I want you coming down to breakfast in boxer shorts every single day!'

Elijah grinned. "Every day might be a bit much, but I suppose I could start with one or two times a week."

Selina nodded. "All right, that's fair. I also want to say that it's not just your body I like you for. I won't bring up you being sensible and dependable again, but I do have to say that this relationship with you is the first time I've ever felt safe and supported and loved. It's the honest truth." She paused. "Sorry to get emotional on you, but it just needed to be said."

"I understand," Elijah nodded. "It doesn't bother me."

"Now let's talk other stuff," Selina continued. "We know you're keeping the jeans. Can we keep doing chair sex? Please, please, please?"

"I have to admit that was one of the most enjoyable times we've ever had," Elijah agreed. "But remember that it is my chair, and sitting in it is very special to me, so the only times you will be allowed in the chair for chair sex are holidays, our birthdays, and any other time the mood strikes me."

"All right," Selina nodded. "That seems fair. As you said, it is your chair. And will you be stealing any police cars?"

"I might be moved, again only on special occasions, to do something like that again," Elijah nodded. "But there will be no killing the police officer this time. When I'm in my right mind, I just can't condone it."

"I thought you were gonna say that," Selina nodded. "I'm glad you're back," she hugged him. "I really, really missed you."

"Now about what happened with you and my brother..." Elijah narrowed his eyes.

"Is that the tea kettle?" Selina asked, standing up quickly. "I should probably go check on that."

As Vince came back to the bar with a tray of glassware, Roxie came out of the kitchen and purposefully knocked her elbow into him. Vince managed to mostly keep his balance, but two glasses fell to the floor and smashed.

Vince put the tray down on the bar and frowned at Roxie. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"It was just an accident," Roxie told him. "You think I did that on purpose?"

"Oh, I know you did that on purpose!" Vince yelled. "Grow up, would you?" He turned his back and Roxie stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know, I think you should start being nice to me," she said. "I love you, but if you keep treating me this way, who knows what could happen?"

But Vince just scoffed. "What is this attitude you've been having lately? I don't like it one bit, do you understand me?"

Roxie sighed and strode toward the bar. "Okay," she said. "You asked for it!" She reached the bar just as an attractive werewolf strode in the door. He wore a leather jacket and blue jeans with a rip in one knee, his curly hair was brown, and his eyes were green and friendly.

"Hey there," he said when he reached the bar and grinned at Roxie, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "What's a pretty lady like you doing in a place like this?"

Roxie watched as Vince's head turned.

"Nothing special," Roxie said. "Just making sure that handsome men like you don't go thirsty. What can I get you?"

He ordered a beer and Roxie poured it in a glass for him. Just as she was about to push it in his direction, Vince put a hand on her wrist. "Don't you dare," he said.

"Excuse me?" Roxie's eyebrow went up. "Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?"

"He's already paid," Roxie said. "I have to give it to him."

"No," Vince shook his head. "You are not giving him anything, 'it' or otherwise."

The man stood up. "I think I'd like the pretty lady to give me my beer, sport."

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Vince told him firmly. "She doesn't give stuff like that out to just anyone."

"We're not talking about beer anymore, are we?" Roxie asked.

"Go to the kitchen!" Vince ordered her. But before she had time to move, the man slugged Vince in the jaw and he collapsed behind the bar. He got up quickly, though, and was able to push the man back into one of the tables. The fight went on for a little bit before it finally caught Enid's attention and she emerged from her apartment and came down to the main bar.

"Hey!" She yelled, grabbing Vince and the man by their collars. "I won't have any fighting here, do you understand me?" She shook the man. "You, take a seat and don't cause any more trouble. And you," she eyed Vince. "You take your break now, all right?"

"Okay," Vince rubbed his head and he and Roxie went back to the break room, shutting the door behind them.

"Are you okay?" Roxie asked him, her eyes big. "I just wanted a little attention from you. I didn't want you to be hurt!"

"You want attention from me?" Vince asked. "Well, that's new!"

"It's just that ever since the twins came along, we've spent next to no time alone. And that was two years ago! This is exactly why I was hesitant to have kids. Because I knew that once we did, our couple connection would be, like, zero. And I don't like that, Vince. I miss you. I miss you touching me and kissing me and all that stuff."

"So you want us to connect again?" Vince asked. "is that what you want?"

"Yes," Roxie nodded. "I do."

"Well, then, come here!" He picked her up and kissed her deep before depositing her on the sofa. She then wiggled out of her panties and he unzipped his pants and the two of them made love for the first tim in two years, which went uninterrupted until Enid opened the break room door.

"Hi," Roxie said, blushing a little at Enid's staring.

"I would say 'I'm sorry, I had no idea anyone was in here, but the two of you are loud!" Enid told them. "I had to turn the music up to block you out!"

"Sorry," Vince said, getting up off of Roxie. "We'll use our break time in a more constructive manner. Even if this was the first time since we had the twins."

"We?" Roxie asked. "Remind me again what you did to have them, Vince?"

Enid grinned. "You can use your break time however you want. Just be mindful of the time on the clock."

Vince nodded. "All right, thank you, Enid." She left and Roxie stood up. "Let me guess: the mood is broken."

Vince shook his head. "Not for me. Is it for you? Cause from the looks of the clock, we still have ten minutes."

"Oh, well in that case," Roxie said, "let's start again, shall we?"

Vince grinned. "Yes, ma'am," he said.

It took a day or two, but Damon finally found it in himself to go home to Lucy again. He reached their house and let himself in, dumping his coat on a chair, then wandering about the house to look for Lucy. As he walked by a closed door, he heard giggling and splashing. The giggling sounded like Lucy, which was weird because she never took baths by herself. He opened the bathroom door and heard a shriek.

"Oh, my god!" Lucy cried, trying to cover herself up with bubbles. "Damon, haven't you heard of knocking?"

"Oh, my god!" Damon repeated when he realized that Lucy's bathing companion was himself. Well, his human self anyway. "What the fuck, Lucy?"

"What?" Lucy asked, her eyes big. "A person suddenly isn't allowed to take a bath?"

"You're allowed to take a bath," Damon answered. "Just not with him. And he has to go home now, anyway. Don't want to screw up the space-time continuum, do we?"

Human Damon kissed Lucy's hand and after asking his vampire self to hand him a towel, gracefully stepped out of the tub.

"What a view from the back," Lucy said.

"I don't see what's so great about it," Damon said. "Just in case you don't remember, I have the same thing." He shook his bottom at her. "See?"

But Lucy ignored him and looked at his human self. "Do you really have to go?"

"After I get dressed, yes, I'm afraid so, sweet Lucy," human Damon said. "No sense in two of us being here at the same time."

Lucy scoffed. "Fine," she said. "But I'm really gonna miss you!"

"Hello!" vampire Damon said."I'm the same guy and I'm standing right here!"

"Yeah, sure," Lucy told him. "Whatever."

Damon rolled his eyes and after his human self was dressed, happily drove him over to Lenora's, more than happy to see the back of him.

"So what happened?" Lucy asked when he came in the door. She was dressed in jeans and a red sweater.

"I dropped him off, Lenora took him away, everything ended neatly," Damon told her.

"I don't mean that," Lucy shook her head. "How did you go from being the sort of guy who actually cared about my feelings to the sort of guy who just uses me as some sort of emotional prop to be certain he's a good person. I'm anxious to hear." She put her hands on her hips and waited.

"Well," Damon said finally, "Around 1912, I met a woman. Her name was Sage, and although I was still very much in love with the woman who turned me at that point, Sage helped me to really appreciate what I was. How to draw in women. How to romance them. How to really make love to them without really caring any about feelings. And those teachings just stuck with me, I guess."

Lucy frowned. "So you're telling me that some bitch of a vampire turned you from a nice guy to a jerk and that's who you've been ever since?" She growled.

"Lucy, what's the matter?" Damon asked. He'd never seen her look so angry before.

"Nothing's the matter," Lucy said. "I'm simply gonna find this Sage and rip off her head, god help me. And don't think I won't. I'm absolutely serious." She grabbed her coat from the closet, and then Damon put a hand on her arm. "Don't go after Sage," he said. "It's one of the stupidest things you could do. She's been a vampire for about as long as your dad and his siblings have been around. She's a lot stronger than you. She could kill you."

"Then I'll just have to get stronger, won't I?" Lucy told him. "And I don't care how many people I have to kill to do it."