Lockwood Mansion, 1864

"Look who found his dancing shoes." Katherine says as her and Stefan dance.
Stefan leans in to kiss her but she leans away teasing him slightly "Uh! No touching, Mr. Salvatore. Those are the rules."
Stefan smiles "I thought you didn't believe in rules."
Stefan pauses as he spots Damon watching the two of them, a look of hurt and heartache filling his expression.
"My brother's still upset that you chose me to escort you."
"Well, Damon needs to concede that his younger brother is a better dancer." Katherine looks over at Damon again "Oh, looks like Mary is occupying his time."

Stefan looks over, only instead of finding Mary stood with his brother, his eyes widen at he realises that it was, in fact, Buffy standing with Damon. Stefan pulls away from Katherine "Buffy..."
Stefan moves to follow Buffy, who was walking with Damon "Stefan don't..." Katherine tries but Stefan ignores her.
"Buffy!" Stefan calls as he follows her and Damon into the other room.

As he opens the door he is suddenly in The Grill. He looks over to see Buffy standing by the pool table. She holds out the cue to him and smirks "Come on, it's about time you learnt how to play properly."
Stefan smiles and starts to walk towards her but Damon steps in front of him and walks right over to Buffy "Hey, I play perfectly, you just cheat." Damon says to her.

Buffy giggles as Damon kisses her before taking the pool cue in his hands "I don't cheat. I'm... just extremely lucky" Buffy says smiling at Damon.

Stefan watches sadly as Damon and Buffy play together, then turns when he hears Katherine "It hurts doesn't it? Now you know how I feel."
Katherine takes his face in her hands "Don't fight it, Stefan. You loved me once. You can love me again." Stefan looks back at Buffy but Katherine grabs his arm, suddenly he is back at the ball and Katherine is walking towards him "I love you, Stefan. We'll be together again. I promise." She says before kissing him.

Stefan wakes up with a shock and looks down to see not blonde hair lying on his chest but brunette. He runs out of the bed and hisses "Katherine."
Katherine smirks "Hi. Did you forget what colour you girlfriend's hair was for a second?"
Katherine continues to smirk as she lies on the bed "It was easy to get inside of your head. Have you completely forsaken your nature? I mean I understand given who you're dating, that you may need to take some liberties but—"

Stefan cuts her off by running at her, but she simply pushes him down to the ground "Are we really gonna do this again? We both know I could rip you to shreds and I could call for Mary who could turn you dust all while doing her hair."
"What do you want?" Stefan says as he stands.

"I wanted to see you. I missed you, Stefan. Indulge me for a little while, please? I'm bored and Mary's on a business trip, so please?"
"Why are you back in town?" Stefan asks ignoring the request.
"3 reasons. You, you and you." She says sweetly as she makes her way towards him.
"See, I can't quite get that down. It just kind of—ahem—gets stuck in my throat."

Katherine walks closer and runs a finger down his chest making him groan in revulsion "You know, it's the truth. Deep down inside that gorgeous body of yours is the Stefan that fell in love with me, too."

Buffy is sitting at The Grill staring at the book with her photo in it, when Damon comes over "Damon, I'm not in the mood."
Damon looks down at the book "Still pestering I see."
"Shut your pie-hole, I'm busy."
Damon chuckles "Oh, come on. What have you found out bout the drawing of you?"
Buffy sighs and places the book down "Why do you care?"
"Just mild curiosity."

Buffy sighs in annoyance "Fine, ok. Nothing. There is nothing in here about why me and Mary look alike, or why my picture is in this book. The only thing it says is that she—me—I have something to do with this stupid Sun and Moon curse thingy."

Buffy slams the book shut. "You okay?" Damon asks.
"No. I just—Elena has a small understanding, that her and Katherine are related. I have nothing...no link, no reason."

Buffy sighs then stands grabbing her stuff "Where are you going?" Damon asks.
"Damon, I made myself clear, I can't be your friend, which means no ideal chit chat."
Buffy starts to walk off but stops when she hears Damon "Ok. See you at Jenna's barbecue."

Buffy's eyes widen and she turns to face him "And you knew about that how?"
Damon shrugs "It was my idea. Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood. So I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy. So I told Rick to tell Jenna—"
Buffy interjects "You do realise there is no chance in hell, Jenna would be throwing this if she knew you were coming right?"

At that moment the waitress walks over and places a box in front of Damon "Perfect. Thank you." He says to the waitress before she walks off.
Damon turns to Buffy "I'm hoping this peach cobbler will pave the way."
"What game are you playing, Damon?" Buffy asks, blocking him as he tries to move past her.

"I'm gonna go put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove he's a werewolf. See you at the barbecue."
Damon walks off causing Buffy to groan in annoyance "Crap."

"Elena told me to say thanks for inviting Caroline, even though she can't come." Buffy tells Jenna as they set up the food "Turns out Elena thinks she could use a distraction."
"Where is Elena anyway?" Jenna asks.
Buffy smirks "Liam's in town."
Jenna chuckles "Are they still...?"
"Refusing to acknowledge that they're dating? That would be a big fat yes."

Jenna chuckles then turns to Buffy "Talking about guys, there is one plus one I'm worried about. Why is Damon coming?"
Buffy shrugs "Your boyfriend is too nice to say no. And Damon, is now too used to my threatening that he had learnt to ignore it."
"He better just keep his paws off you."

"Ahh, good news. Found the shot glasses." Mason says as he walks into the room.
"Eww." Buffy moans before turning to Jenna "I'm gonna go be anywhere else."

Buffy grabs her phone as she sits in her room and waits for the person on the other end of the line to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Giles, it's me." Buffy says into the phone.
"Buffy?" Giles asks shocked, Buffy hadn't contacted any of them in weeks, no since the Ascension and the reveal that Angel was in fact alive.

Buffy sighs, she couldn't get emotional right now, as much as she missed her friends she needed help, so this call had to stay strictly business "Yeah. Giles look, I need help with something. I have tried to research but I'm not so good at it."
"Of course. I will do whatever I can."
"Thanks okay. Have you got your scanner set up yet?"
"Ohh, yes Willow did it this morning. Ridiculous this increase in technology now it's insanity, really-."
Buffy sighs "Giles."
"Oh, yes. Never mind. Everything is working."

"Cool just give me a sec." Buffy puts the phone down and walks over to her computer, she picks up the book she got from Vanessa and scans the pages into her computer.
Once the scan finishes, Buffy walks back over to her phone "You get it?"

:

In Giles' apartment in Sunnydale, Giles walks over to his computer and opens the files, only to gasp in shock when he sees an image of Buffy on the page "Buffy. What is this?" He asks.
"Giles, this was written over 600 years ago."
Giles cleans his glasses as he stares at the image with wide eyes "Dear lord. I will do all I can to try and explain this Buffy."
"Thank you." She says sincerely.

Giles suddenly heard voices coming from the background of the phone "Giles, I gotta go, the guests got into the scotch. Thanks again."
"You're welcome."

Giles hangs up the phone just as Willow and Xander enter the apartment "Hey Giles!" Xander yells causing the man to jump in shock "Bloody hell. Don't you knock?"

"What you looking at Giles?" Willow asks as she walks over to the computer and gasps "Oh my god?"
"Buffy, need our help." Giles tells them.

After Buffy called Giles she heads down stairs and tries to call Stefan but it just goes to voicemail. "Damn." Buffy moans as she hangs up the phone and heads outside onto the porch. She flops down on the bench outside and sighs trying to deal with all the crazy thoughts running through her head.

"That Stefan?" Caroline asks as she comes to sit opposite Buffy and spots Buffy's phone in her hand.
Buffy nods "Technically it was his voicemail."
"I'm sure he's fine." She says with a shrug before shoving more crisps into her mouth "God, I cannot stop eating. Stefan says it's a great way to sublimate the cravings."
Buffy nods awkwardly "Caroline—"

"It's horrible." Caroline says going on as though Buffy had not spoken "Fighting the urge for blood every minute of every day. The desire to rip out someone's jugular every time I'm around them."
Buffy interjects before Caroline can continue "Caroline. Stop. I get that you're going through a hard time and I wanna help, but I don't think I'm the best person to be talking about all this with."
"Why not?" Caroline asks confused.

"Because I'm a Vampire Slayer, and I watched you kill a man. Every nerve in my body is telling me to kill you. I don't want to, but hearing you talk about cravings and ripping out people's jugulars just reminds me of the fact that one day, I may have to take you out. It's bad enough I did that with Angel and now Stefan. I can't pretend that everything is normal between us yet. I'm sorry."

Buffy stands and then walks back in the house.

"Aunt Jenna's getting tipsy." Damon tells Buffy as he walks into the kitchen.
"Here's an idea stop trying to get her drunk in the first place. It's creepy." Buffy tells him as she places dessert on the plate.
"I want her to like me." Damon says.

"How's your stupid plan going?" Buffy asks.
Damon leans in close and whispers in her

ear "He's my new BFF."
Buffy rolls her eyes and moves away from him just as Jenna enters the room "There you are. Isn't this fun?"
Damon nods "Yes. Thank you so much for inviting me."
"Did I have a choice?"
"I know what you must think of me."
Jenna cut in "No, you don't. You've never dated you. I have dated many you's."
"Well, I'm a work in progress."

Jenna turns to Buffy "Can you beat him till that progress is done?"
Buffy laughs "You're asking me to use violence? Jenna, how much has Damon given you to drink?"
"Nothing I can't handle."

"Ohh." Damon says as he spots the knifes "These are fancy."
"Thanks." Jenna says flatly "My mother's silver set."
Buffy's widen as she sees Damon eyeing the knifes. This was not going to end well, she could feel it, the idiot was coming up with an even stupider plan.

A little while later Buffy grabs her jacket and heads for the door only to have Caroline block her path "Where are you going?"
"Gonna see Stefan. I contacted Giles for some help, just gonna let Stefan know before I raid his vervain supply before my patrol."
"You wanna leave?"
Buffy nods "Yeah. I just said that? Or did I? Am I speaking latin, cause I do that in my sleep sometimes."
"Don't you think showing up at his house after you called him, makes you seem kinda clingy?"

Buffy shakes her head and looks at Caroline in disbelief "No. I'm not clingy, I need vervain for my patrol and I have information that he would want to know. Plus hello have you met me, I am the like the least clingy girlfriend in the world. Look, I gotta book." Buffy starts to move past her again but Caroline moves in front of her "How about I drive you?"
"Caroline..."
"Look, I know you're still not okay with what happened at the carnival and that's why you're keeping your guard up around me. But please just let me help."

Buffy sighs "Fine. Let's go. But you're not coming on patrol with me."

After the car broke down Buffy and Caroline were waiting on the side of the road "Are you sure the tow's coming, cause if it is it's sure taking it's sweet time getting here."
Caroline nods "I know, it's weird. They said they'd be here by now."
Buffy sighs "I'll call Jenna."
"No! Let me try the tow people again. And I'll use my aggro voice."
Buffy huffs "Look, it's already dark which means the vamps that hide out in the demon bar just outside of town are leaving so I need to go. We can walk."
"I can't just leave my car."
"You can come back for it."
"Just give me a minute, Buffy." Caroline snaps suddenly "What's the rush. Why are you hurrying to get to a relationship that'll never work?"

Buffy's eyes widen before she scoffs "Are you kidding me right now? My rush- is that after dark god knows how many vamps and demons are gonna get out of that bar. And who knows how many people are gonna die if they get past the town line and into Mystic Falls. I have spent the past year keeping them out of here." Buffy pauses "And since when is this about my relationship with Stefan?"

"Buffy just think about it. You're human. He's a vampire. You're going to be 70 and in diapers, and he's still gonna be smoking hot."
"My relationship with Stefan is none of your business. So what the hell?"
"I'm just trying to be a good friend."
Buffy scoffs, if this was what Caroline called being a good friend then she really sucked at it, she really didn't need another reminder about the idea of growing old, because it was extremely likely that she wasn't going to "Really well stop trying cause you suck at it. Oh and thanks so much for reminding me of the fact that if I was a normal human I would even make it to 70, that just reminds me even more of the fact that it's likely I won't live past 20."

At that point, Buffy notices the tow truck coming towards them "There's your truck, I'm outta here."
"No, don't." Caroline says as she grabs Buffy's arm.
Buffy glares at Caroline "I suggest you let me go, you've already pissed me off enough for one day."
"Don't leave me alone." Caroline begs.
Buffy rips her arm from Caroline's grasp before walking off.

"I want what I want Stefan." Katherine says, answering the same question again "And I don't care what I have to do to get it. My lists of victims is a long one. And I have no problem adding two more names to that list."
Stefan shakes his head "Come on, Katherine. If you wanted Buffy or Elena dead, you would have tried by now."

"I may not be able to kill the Slayer but I can still kill the little cousin. Mary, I'm sure can take your girl, I'm sure she'll have no problem snapping her neck like a twig. And you know it."

Stefan growls and grabs a stake and hold it over Katherine, after a moment he throws the stake at the wall causing Katherine to smirk, "Guess you don't hate me as much as you thought you did. I don't want you seeing Buffy anymore. If you don't remove her from your life, I will kill everyone that she loves, starting with her little cousin and then I will let Mary kill her while you watch."

Stefan growls and wraps a hand around her throat "Don't you ever think for one moment that I will not kill you."

Suddenly Stefan groans in pain and grasps his head, his body then flies upwards and he is pinned to the ceiling "It about time." Katherine says as Mary walks into the room her focus on keeping Stefan attached to the ceiling. Mary then looks down at Katherine "I was busy. I have other things to attend to, more so then your little flirting attempt."

"Fine. Just let me know when you're leaving town next time before I plan something like this."

Stefan watches as Katherine easily rips herself free of the chains, before looking up at him "I have been sipping vervain every single day for the last 145 years. You caught me by surprise once, I wasn't going to let it happen again. It doesn't hurt me, Stefan."
Stefan looks at her confused "What—why—"
Katherine looks at Mary "Lower him, please."

Slowly Mary lowers Stefan off the ceiling before pinning him against the wall. Katherine walks over to him "I told you. I've missed you, Stefan. I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"Hello?" The two of them hear Buffy say as she enters the house.

Katherine turns her attention to Stefan and drives a stake into his leg, she then looks over at Mary "Time to meet the blonde."

"Stefan?" Buffy calls as she walks into the living room, needing to hit something very soon after Caroline had riled her up "Come on, I have to go patrol but I need the vervain first, I figured I could torture a vamp for some info."

Buffy hears movement behind her and turns around to see Mary and Katherine watching her intently. "You must be Buffy." Mary says.
Buffy's eyes widen at the sight of the two of them, yes she had known about the resemblance but knowing and seeing were two very different things "This is beyond creepy."

As Katherine steps towards her Buffy punches her in the face "Sorry, more of a hit first ask questions later kinda girl."

Katherine growls and pins Buffy to the wall, Buffy headbutts her, before throwing her to the other end of the room, Buffy looks over at Mary who smiles at her "Been waiting for you to show up for a long time Slayer."

"Buffy!" Stefan yells as he runs up the stairs.

Suddenly Mary waves her hand and both her and Katherine disappear in a puff of smoke. "Are you ok?" Stefan asks as he walks over.
Buffy nods "I just punched Katherine in the face, so I feel a little better. Not much though. How bout you, you're kinda bleeding." Buffy says gesturing to his leg with a worried frown.
"Not really." Stefan then steps forwards and wraps his arms around Buffy.

After accepting Caroline's apology, Buffy walks over to her table with Stefan. "I'm starving." Stefan says.
Buffy shrugs "Sure, cause spending the day with that crazy vampire ex of yours, will do that to you. I know it sure happened to me."

Stefan sighs before looking over at her seriously "Listen, I know you're upset. All right...but we have to take her seriously. Today was all about the lengths that she'll go to."
Buffy scoffs "Well I just knocked that girl on her ass, with very little effort, if I'm worried about anyone, it's Mary. She seemed...pleased."
"Buffy, you caught Katherine off guard. She is still strong, she could still kill you."
"Not afraid of her."

"Well, you should be. After everything her and Mary have done together, we should be scared."
Buffy rolls her eyes at that "Katherine is no more than an ordinary vampire, but for you, she's not."

"Look Katherine is used to getting her way, and when she doesn't get it she has Mary do it. Mary slaughtered an entire village once for Katherine and Katherine did the same for her, we should worry about what will happen if they don't get what they want."
Buffy's eyes widen "Wow, your sire tells you to do one thing and now it's all you can think about."

Stefan shakes his head trying to make her understand "Look. She sadistic. Ok. She threatened you."
"I can take care of myself." She tells him with an annoyed tone to her voice.
"But she didn't just threaten you, she threatened everyone."

"So what?" Buffy asks him still stunned "You wanna do what she says, cause it looks like she's already got what she wanted." Buffy stands "I have to patrol." Buffy turns and walks off.

Buffy climbs in through her window after patrol to see Stefan standing there "You ok?"
Buffy nods "Took out my rage on a couple demons."
She smirks before walking over and hugging him "I don't like fighting with you." She says.
"I know, me, too. It felt too real."

Buffy pulls away then looks down at his shirt "Crap, I got demon blood on your shirt."
"Doesn't matter." He says before kissing her.

After a moment Buffy pulls away "We were right bout Caroline, she was hanging on to every word like a shopaholic and her favourite pair of shoes. Looks like Katherine is trying to make Caroline her little servant."
Stefan nods in agreement "Then it won't be long before Katherine gets a play-by-play."

"I hate the fact that Caroline if such a bad liar. Because it made it so easy to see she was playing me."
"Katherine always finds somebody to do her dirt work."

"I think Damon was listening to us fight, too. You gonna spill the beans?"
Stefan shakes his head "The only way Katherine's gonna believe it is if everybody believes it. It's the best way to make her think she's getting what she wants."

Buffy sighs, she hated this, Katherine was a manipulative bitch who needed to go down, plus all this unknown information was driving her insane "This is stupid. First, we still don't know what Mary's up to and now Katherine's going through all this effort...just to get you back."

Stefan shrugs before placing both his hands on her cheeks, cupping her face "I don't know about Mary but when it comes to Katherine, trust me that's not why she's here whatever she says I know her. Katherine doesn't care about anybody but herself and Mary. She never has. She's incapable of love. She's here for another reason."