A/N This is the full episode of 'Kill or be Killed'.
I'm still trying to fit the three girls in each chapter and I don't think this flows very well and it's a bit choppy, but I hope you guys like it anyway.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Elena, Malia and Jeremy were all squeezed in the bathroom, trying to get ready for school. Jeremy brushed his teeth while Elena combed out her hair and Malia tied her own hair into a ponytail.
"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf." Jeremy was saying.
"We're not sure about that yet." Elena protested.
"If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's a freaking duck." Malia put in.
"The only thing we know for sure is that Mason Lockwood is." Elena said firmly.
"It should be enough easy for us to figure it out." Jeremy mused.
"There is no 'us'. I said that I wouldn't keep things from you anymore. That doesn't mean that I want you involved in it." Elena explained.
"By definition of being in this family, I'm involved."
"This is dangerous, Jeremy. You have to stay out of it, okay?"
"So I'm going to give you all the details before telling you not to do anything about this life or death situation." Malia mocked.
"Not helping." Elena snapped.
"Not trying to." Malia returned. Jeremy laughed and went into his bedroom. Ignoring Elena's look, Malia followed.
"I can't believe Elena." Jeremy complained.
"She's trying to be the kind of big sister that protects us."
"It's annoying."
"Oh, completely. But-." She slapped her hand against the door so that he couldn't open it to get out.
"You are going to do your absolute best to stay out of this, alright?" She asked, giving him a smile. He tried to pull the door open. She leaned her weight against it. He gave up.
"Fine, alright?!" He demanded.
"Good boy. Watch the tone. Respect your elders." She opened the door and waved him out before hurrying back into the bathroom to grab her bag. She paused by the door to Elena's room, listening.
"I hate fighting with you, even if it's fake."
"I know but if Katherine thinks that we are fighting, then she will think that she's winning and it keeps her from following through with her threats…"
"Yeah. But it doesn't make it any easier. Neither does knowing that Caroline will be there, reporting everything back to her."
"Hey, everything's gonna be okay. Yes, we have to keep up this ruse for a little while but the best way to keep Katherine from hurting anybody, from hurting you."
"Just promise me that she won't get her way with us. We can fake a fight, we can pretend that her threats are tearing us apart but none of it is real, okay?"
"Okay, how about this? Today, when we're fighting, if I say 'I can't do this anymore, Elena', what I'll really mean is that I love you."
"And when I say, 'Fine, Stefan, whatever', well that means I love you too." Malia heard them kissing and grimaced at the sound, turning and heading down the stairs.
Caroline tugged the covers off of Jess, who simply groaned in response.
"Hey, are you getting up or not?"
"Can I say no?"
"No. Come on." Caroline tugged Jess into a sitting position.
"Don't mope just because your biological family happened to be murdered by your biological physco brother."
"That's an excellent reason to mope, Caroline."
"Yeah, well, stop it." She said sternly, pulling Jess out of bed. Once she was upright, Caroline left the room, going into the kitchen instead. She stopped, staring when she saw Liz there.
"Are you off today?"
"The historical society volunteer picnic is today. You're the one who signed me up."
"I know. I just assumed you'd bail."
"No. I'm gonna spend the whole day with my daughters."
"You're gonna pretend to be a mother?" Caroline scoffed, unable to help herself. She shook her head and headed for the fridge to get a can of soda. Caffeine and junk food helped with the cravings, so she was intent on getting as much caffeine into her body as possible before spending the day around a large group of humans.
"I'll bring my gun if it gets rough. Come on, give me one day. I've been buried in work mode, I've barely seen you."
"Well, be warned, I'm in a mood and Jess is moping."
"Goody for me. What was Elena doing here so late last night?" Liz questioned. Jess came into the kitchen, barefoot but dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.
"Elena wasn't-." She started, confused. Caroline interrupted her.
"Elena was here. She just needed to talk. Her and Stefan are going through a rough patch."
"Is everything okay with you guys?"
"I'm fine."
"It's just lately you seem different."
"I'm not different, I'm fine."
"I know you think I don't notice these things but I do. What's going on with you?"
"You know there's pretending to be a mother and then there's reality. Let's not push our luck, okay?" Caroline hurried out of the kitchen. Liz looked at Jess, who just rolled her eyes and went after her.
"This is all part of the historical society, continuing efforts to give back to the community. Thanks to the generous donation of the Fell family. We are now standing on the sight of our newest public park. Thank you to everyone who has shown up today to lend a helping hand. Thanks." Carol Lockwood stood on a pedestal, as usual, giving a speech that had been prepared for weeks. Stefan spotted Mason and headed towards him. Ava looked around and hurried after him.
"What are you doing?" She asked in a whisper.
"I'm going to talk to him." Ava stayed close to him as they joined Mason, who looked up in slight surprise.
"Stefan, right? The other Salvatore. And… you." Mason looked at Ava, obviously forgot her name, and turned back to Stefan.
"The nice one. The one offering an apology." Stefan explained.
"Not interested."
"Look, my brother acted impulsively."
"You think?"
"If you and Damon keep at each other throats, somebody innocent is going to get hurt and I don't want that. You have family here so I can imagine you'd want that either. So what do you say we just quit the whole alpha male fighting thing and call a truce?"
"I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down with a knife."
"Damon doesn't take truces from people he doesn't like. He happens to not completely hate us." Ava put in.
"And what if I say no? Gonna try to stab me with a silver knife again, bite my ankles?" He teased her. Ava folded her arms across her chest, frowning but not replying either. Mason shook his head.
"Tell your brother to watch his back."
"Not my brother." She said quickly. He looked at her.
"You're not a vampire." He laughed, as if that was the funniest thing in the world. He purposely bumped into her shoulder as he past, nearly knocking her over. In an instant, Stefan had Mason's arm in a death grip.
"Well, I'm guessing that we only have to worry about you during a full moon. Otherwise you're not as strong, am I right? Or you would have killed Damon by now. There's one of you. There are two of us. I think you're the one that needs to watch his back."
"If he comes at me…"
"He won't." They shook hands rather stiffly and Mason left in a hurry. Ava rubbed her shoulder.
"You alright?"
"I'm human. I'm used to it." She said, surprisingly bitter about the whole thing. Damon walked over to them.
"What are you doing?"
"Negotiating peace on your behalf." Stefan explained.
"I don't want peace."
"Consider it opposite day."
"Stefan, please tell me you don't seriously think a hand shake just solved our problem."
"No, actually I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart and then through mine, all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So thank you, because we don't have enough problems." Stefan hurried away, shaking his head. Damon glared at his back.
"So how does one go about killing a werewolf?" He asked, looking over at Ava. She scoffed at him.
"Since when am I Buffy? Go ask Giles." He raised an eyebrow.
"Alaric." She clarified, walking away. He followed her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. She drove her elbow into his side and he let his arm drop.
"You've changed, little niece. You were much more fun to mess with before." He complained.
"Oh, I remember the throat-grabbing and wrist-breaking. Glad you had fun with me. Now stay away from me." With that, she picked up the pace, disappearing into the crowd of volunteers.
Malia glanced around, wishing that Jenna hadn't signed her up for the volunteer work. Damon and Stefan were arguing, as always. Caroline and Elena were whispering to each other, probably about Damon and Stefan. Ava had busied herself with the clean-up around the trees and Jeremy had somehow managed to escape working today.
"Would you like some lemonade?" Malia turned to the little girl manning the lemonade table.
"Thank you." She took three cups and hurried over to Stefan and Damon.
"Here, put this in your mouth and maybe words will stop coming out of it." She handed a cup to Damon and then a second one to Stefan.
"You're such a sweetheart." Damon said sarcastically, raising his cup in a cheer. She rolled her eyes as they took a drink. Immediately, they spit it back out, coughing and sputtering.
"What's wrong?" Stefan demanded, wisely putting his cup down.
"Vervain." Stefan pulled Damon and Malia over to the side of the tent and they sat down. Stefan left and returned a second later with water for both of them. Malia coughed up blood and then drained the cup of water, looking ready to snap someone's neck, or possible her own.
"I thought the rule was don't drink the Kool-Aid, not don't drink the lemonade!" She complained, coughing again.
"I'm gonna kill him." Damon growled.
"Listen to me-."
"I'm not listening anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap. He's dead!"
"Okay. I don't like it. He's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down." Stefan agreed reluctantly. He looked over at Malia, who was wiping blood away from her mouth.
"Let's go see what exactly kills a werewolf."
"Alright. Let's do it." Damon spotted Mason going into the woods.
"Woods. Trash duty. Come on." The trio got to their feet, Damon and Malia looking slightly unsteady at first, and hurried after him. It wasn't hard to catch up with Mason; he was walking a slow human pace. As the trio surrounded him, he looked around. Damon smirked.
"Don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable. Go ahead, run, I'll give you a head start." Damon offered. Mason knelt down and they watched, confused. Then gunshots rang out. Pain erupted in Malia's chest and she hit the ground, her legs giving out beneath her.
Caroline made her way into the woods, with Elena and Jess following close behind. Caroline swatted away a bug and then stopped, listening.
"Where are you going? What's going on?" Elena asked.
"I need to be able to hear better." She explained.
"Hear what?" Jess questioned.
"Something's wrong."
"Caroline-." She shushed them, trying to listen in on something. Then, suddenly, her head snapped up.
"Oh my gosh."
"What is it?" Jess and Elena demanded.
"Stefan, Malia… Damon. Come on."
Malia found herself on the floor of some cellar, weakly looking around.
"Thank you, Mason." An all too familiar voice spoke from nearby. A needle was shoved into her arm and Vervain coursed through her veins. She let out a weak whimper, squeezing her eyes shut again.
"You're gonna kill them, right?" Mason asked.
"Yes. That's why you should go. Here it's the council, not the law. You can't be a party to this. It's for your own protection."
"Liz, I don't care about-."
"I do and I'm not asking. Goodbye, Mason."
"Don't take any chances."
Caroline stopped, stooping down to look at one of the plants.
"What is it?" Elena asked impatiently.
"They've been here." She stared at the blood that had splattered onto the leaves of the plant and then stood up again.
"What are you three doing out here?" The trio of girls whirled around to face Mason. Jess backed up to stand beside Caroline.
"Have you seen my sister?" Elena asked, trying to sound calm.
"Yeah, Elena, I've seen her. Seen Stefan and Damon too."
"Where are they?"
"You don't need me for that. I'll let your friend here sniff them out." He motioned to Caroline, who stiffened.
"Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her." Caroline started towards him, but he grabbed Elena, whirling her around and strangling her from behind.
"Don't be stupid! Necks snap easy around here."
"I can take you."
"Wanna bet?"
"Yeah. I do." She blurred over to him, grabbed him and pushed him against a tree. Elena stumbled away, catching herself on Jess's arm as they backed up, letting Caroline deal with Mason.
"I told you." Caroline said smugly. She licked him in the leg, threw him to the ground and then kicked him in the stomach. He flew against a tree and then hit the ground again. Caroline brushed her hair out of her face.
"Come on." She grabbed Jess's wrist and the three of them hurried away.
"This is how it's gonna work. Answer me and you don't get shot, understand? How many of you are there?" Liz questioned, gun pointed at Damon.
"Liz, please…." She shot him in the leg and he screamed. Stefan was unconscious beside him and on the other side of him Malia was barely conscious, her eyes squeezed shut.
"How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?" Damon didn't answer. She turned her gun on Malia and shot her in the leg. Malia let out a shriek, her hands balling into fists.
"I will drag this out painfully." Liz threatened.
"But you're my friend."
"Our friendship was a lie. Answer me and I'll kill you fast."
Elena, Caroline and Jess stopped at the top of the stairs to the ruins. Caroline listened in, her arm up to stop Caroline and Jess.
"What is it?"
"My mom... She's killing them."
"What?! We have to stop her!" Elena and Jess rushed into the cellar.
"No, I can't. She's gonna find out about me!" Caroline yelled after them. Elena and Jess felt their way down into the cellar. Elena stooped down to grab a wooden plank as they crept forward.
"Let's do this. Each with a stake in the heart, then burn all three of them." Liz was saying. Jess clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her whimper as they picked up speed. One of the deputies rounded the corner and Elena smacked him in the head with the plank, knocking him out. They ran into the next room.
"Jess, Elena! What are you doing?" Liz cried.
"You can't kill them. I'm not gonna let you!" The girls ran to the three bloody vampires, trying to shield them from the deputies. The door slammed shut and everyone turned towards it.
"What was that?"
"Who else is with you?" One of the deputies was yanked back into the shadows, his scream cut short. Another one flew against the wall. Caroline stepped out so that her mom could see her, blood dripping off her chin.
"Hi, mom."
Malia pushed aside the body of the deputy, wiping excess blood off her mouth. Elena was sitting with Stefan while Damon walked around, trying to shake off the effects of the Vervain.
"You need to drink some deputy blood." Damon finally told his brother.
"No. I'm gonna be fine. It's just gonna take a little bit longer."
"Damon's right you know. If there's ever time to break your diet-." Caroline started.
"He said he didn't want it, okay?" Elena snapped at her. Caroline gave up and turned to Jess, whispering with her as their mother cowered in the corner, too scared to move.
"This is a most unfortunate situation. Two deputies dead and you…" Damon stepped closer to Liz.
"What am I gonna do with you?"
"You won't tell anyone, will you? Mom? Mom? Please. Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right? Mom, please. He will kill you." Caroline pleaded.
"Then kill me."
"No!" Caroline and Jess rushed forward.
"I can't take this. Kill me now."
"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." Damon caught her by the shoulders, pinning her against the wall.
"No, no, no!" Caroline was sobbing now, holding Jess back from trying to take on Damon herself. Malia appeared at his side, grabbing his arm.
"Damon, don't!"
"Damon, please!" Elena added.
"Relax, guys, no one is killing anyone." He explained. He looked back at Liz.
"You're my friend." He assured her. He looked around at the bodies.
"We've got to clean this up."
Caroline threw clothes and books into one of Liz's suitcases, running around the room in a blur as she collected everything. Jess stood in the doorway, watching. Finally, Caroline stopped and leaned over the suitcase to zip it up.
"I think this should be good. We can always get her some more stuff if she needs them." Caroline mused. Then she sighed and sat down on the bed. Jess went and joined her, leaning against Caroline's shoulder.
"I really thought Damon was going to kill her." Caroline whispered.
"I'm just glad my 'thing' didn't act up."
"You're what?"
"My magic." Jess explained in a mumble, like it was a bad word.
"Oh, right. Like at the carnival. Have you talked to Bonnie or-?"
"No, no… She has enough on her mind and it's not like my magic acts up very often… Just the once…" Jess explained, shrugging her shoulders.
"At least mom doesn't know about you yet."
"She won't. Only the people that saw what I did at the carnival need to know." Jess told her hurriedly, running a hand through her strawberry blonde curls. Caroline squeezed her hand and nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Let's get this to mom."
Caroline pushed open the door to the Salvatore boarding house and walked in, leaving the door open for Jess. Elena and Malia met them in the opening room. Caroline held up the suitcase.
"Hey, sorry that took forever. I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here."
"It'll take three days' tops for the Vervain to leave her system. Maybe even sooner, depends on how much she takes and how often." Malia explained, sounding oddly like a teacher. Stefan walked over to them.
"Hey! You get some bunny in you?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better, thank you."
"Good. Uh… Where's mom?" Jess asked, wringing her hands. Stefan motioned towards the cellar. The two girls hesitantly started down, suitcase in hand. Stefan turned to Elena and Malia.
"I've got to go pick up Ava from the park, so…"
"I'll get my sis home. You're not the only one looking out for her." Malia told him, rolling her eyes. He smiled and nodded, walking out of the boarding house. Malia turned to her twin.
"Nice fake fight there at the park."
"You saw that?"
"Everyone saw that."
"How did you know it was fake?"
"I heard you and Stefan in the bedroom. Honestly, you should invest in a locking window. Having vampires come into your room uninvited… not as romantic as it is creepy, despite what Bella Swan might say."
Caroline and Jess paused near the doorway to the cell, waiting and listening.
"Thank you. It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure. Brought you a good thread count. And once the Vervain is worked out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything and you will be a free woman." Damon was explaining.
"Can you keep Caroline far away from me please? I don't want to see her."
"She's your daughter, Liz."
"Not anymore. My daughter's gone."
"You have no idea how wrong you are about that." Damon glanced over at Jess and Caroline. Caroline turned and hurried up the stairs, passing off the suitcase to Jess. Jess walked into the room and tossed the suitcase onto the cot next to Liz without a word. Then, turning on her heel, she hurried after Caroline. Damon hurried after her, catching her arm before she could get out of the cellar.
"Let go off me!" She tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he held on tight.
"I'm sorry. This is because of Mason, he told her everything." Jess stopped and looked at him.
"Did… Did you just apologize for something?"
"Don't expect it to happen again." He released her arm and walked away.