~I think I have a habit of pissing people off, Damon thought absently, gazing at his slow working and pain stricken sister. Tanya Mai was tightening a loose bolt on a pipe, but this was her third time catching her breath from lack of energy. It was obvious she needed blood. I wonder if there is any way I can force blood down my sister's throat...Then Damon rolled his eyes at his own stupid idea and went from crow to human form in the blink of an eye. His ears pricked up when Zane entered her office and began chatting with her.

"Tanya, can you please tell me what to do? I just want to help," the pesky human named Zane was saying. Damon waited for his sister to answer, but she just leaned against her work bench painfully, deeply breathing.

"Tanya, please," Zane begged.

"Zane, please go away. I am in no mood to argue with you. I just want to work on this," she finally said. Her voice was dry like dust.

"But Tanya, you've been at it for days on end. You never take breaks, you miss poker night, and the boys are terribly worried about you. Please rest yourself. You need a vacation anyway." Zane gently brushed her arm with his fingertips. Never knew he could be so interested in my hot head of a sister, Damon thought.

"Zane! Just leave me be!" Tanya Mai shouted at him. She gave Zane a shove, and, with tears filming her precious eyes, turned back to her task. Zane, standing there, shocked and baffled, let his head fall a little, then shuffled out, defeated as though he was a defeated soldier in battle.

Damon raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised.

Damon felt a little guilty for leaving his sister in pain while he did his task after the battle with Klaus, now knowing what his absence had done to Tanya Mai. Now that he had come back, he noticed how badly his absence treated her. He felt bad.

With a deep breath, he entered his sister's garage, being careful not to scare her. He knew she was mad at him-hence she nearly killed Elena at the boarding house-but he just had to apologize, something he hadn't done in nearly five hundred years.

"My sweet, delicate sister," he greeted, gently smiling. Wrench's body tightened at the smoothness of his voice. Her hunched back was still to him. He walked up behind her and stroked two fingers along her fragile spine. "Has your rainy day brightened a little at all?"

"You don't care if I a feeling better or not," she mumbled. Her shuffled feet took her back to her bench, retrieving a screwdriver.

"Of course I do. I will always care what happens to you, my fragile sister." He took the tool from her, rubbing her hand. Even her long fingers looked like arthritis had twisted those fingers into breakable twigs.

Something more than guilt and pain tugged at his heart, even as he turned her face up to look at him. Her haunted eyes were glassy and teary, eyelashes balancing tears like crystals along their length.

"Tanya Mai, you really need to feed. You will mummify if you don't. You need just a little. It will make you feel so much better." He moved to bite his wrist. But her jerky hand stopped him.

"No one cares if I'm gone. You don't care...Stefan doesn't care...Elena isn't supposed to care but she acts like I am her best friend or something...Tanner doesn't care...Dan doesn't care...no one cares." Tears fell down her cheeks. "Maybe I should just set myself on fire just to get rid of the pain," she added, eyeing a small blow torch to weld on pieces of metal.

"Tanya Mai, do you think I would not care if I came here? I came because I am worried about you and for you." Damon cupped her wet cheeks. "And killing yourself is not the answer to everything."

"Please, Damon. Don't lie to me." She tried to pry his fingers off her face.

"I'm not fibbing, my sister. I really care about you."

"How come you never did this before?"

"Because I was human. My emotions were too hard to control. But I now realize that I missed you while you and I were apart." Placing her cheek on his shoulder, he wrapped her in his arms. She was shaking so badly... "I just want you to be happy, Tanya Mai. For one minute of your life, I want you to be happy."

"There's no such thing as 'Happy' in my world." Her face had gone blank and staring, like she had died standing up.

"Tanya Mai. You need to go talk to Zane. He can help you."

"He would never understand. I can't tell him I am a vampire. He would hate me after that for lying to him all these years."

Jesus Christ! She's delusional! he thought a bit harshly. But his vocals were gentler. "Zane would understand. He's your best friend."

"But I drove him away. I have no one left."

Damon had had enough. His sister was drowning in depression when it was plain she needed a shoulder to lean on. But she wasn't letting anyone help her. Damon would have done anything and everything he could to get her to open up to someone. Maybe him or that human Zane.

Damon pulled Tanya Mai into his arms, scooped her up, and dashed into the dorm rooms with no one looking, walking to the last door on the hallway to the left; he vaguely remembered Zane stayed here.

"Damon...I can't tell him."

"Then at least let him treat you well and coddle you for a few hours." He softly knocked on the door. A few moments later Zane appeared, eyes widening a little.

"Is she okay?" Zane asked Damon, remembering him from the hotel.

"No; she needs someone to hold her and take care of her for a while. And she needs a nap." Damon set Tanya Mai on her feet. Tanya Mai looked at Zane helplessly, and started to cry again.

"Oh, Tanya. Don't cry. It's okay. Come here; come here." For a human, his voice is soft and sweet; it's what she needs right now anyway, Damon thought, watching his sister writhe in pain in Zane's arms. Zane mouthed Thank you, Damon and dragged Tanya Mai into his room, shutting the door.

Damon didn't smile or nod; he just watched a human take his sister into warm arms and gentle smiles. He couldn't do it ever if he tried. He didn't know how to comfort one who was broken in pieces. He only knew how to comfort his own feelings.

Damon left his sister alone, wondering when he will be able to see her again.

~"Elena, I'm so glad you're back!" Stefan was gushing, throwing his arms around her. Elena had become herself again, talking and acting like being in the spirit world hadn't even affected her. Except she was part angel now...

Elena was getting ready to have a picnic with her friends, and Elena was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and hair, smearing on clear lip gloss and tucking in her borrowed light blue top.

"Stefan, that is the third time I had heard that, now can I brush my teeth please?" Elena said, smiling. Stefan blushed, and went back to buttoning up his white polo shirt. "And anyway, you can have me later when I talk to my friends and Matt."

"Fine. But the wait will be painful," he teased, lightly kissing her rose bud mouth.

"Actually, Stefan," she said. Stefan turned around, frowning. "I think I know why I thought Tanya was my friend when I was acting like a child."

"Really?" he said.

Elena turned to him. "I never admitted it, but I had secret feelings for Tanya. I used to think she was so strong and never let anyone get in her way. And...I was very envious of her. I loved her beauty and face."

"But she's not as beautiful as you, lovely love," Stefan said, rubbing her back.

"And another thing," Elena said, as if she hadn't heard him. "I saw her aura. It's all black, with flashes of orange and yellow. Her aura is tainted with misery, depression and anger. She's upset, Stefan. I read her thoughts when she was trying to kill me. She's the way she is because you and Damon treated her so badly back in Florence. And because of Katherine. That's why she hates me. I know why she is the way she is now." Elena became excited. "Tanya was mistreated by her father and you and Damon. Her only friend was a handmaid, Martyl. Katherine was jealous because of Tanya's beauty and money."

"Elena, I don't understand. Tanya Mai was only upset because of Katherine."

"But you're not listening Stefan," Elena protested, spinning around to look at him. "You and Damon never paid any attention to her. Why do you think she thinks so negatively about you and Damon and me?"

"But why would she hate you? You look like Katherine, but you don't act like her."

"But Tanya doesn't know that. She hates me because she believes I act like Katherine. So she's scared to know me due to the fact that I could act like Katherine."

Stefan was scratching his head. "So...she hates you because of Katherine. But I don't remember ever being mean to her."

"You don't remember exactly." Elena was pacing again. "Katherine wiped your memory, like she wanted you to forget your own sister. And Katherine did the same with Damon. Katherine was jealous of Tanya because of Tanya's beauty and money. So she wanted to make Tanya's life and eternal life miserable."

"Elena, how did you conclude this?"

"Like I said, I read her memory. And things just clicked together after that." Elena became a bit calmer, and plopped down onto the bed. "But I thought she was my friend because my old feelings for her were intensified when came back."

Stefan's face showed understanding. "I get it now," he said, sitting next to her. "But could her anger really overwhelm her?"

"Tanya has been known to be a shadow since she changed into a vampire. She has been living with her misery for nearly half a millennium. How do you think she would feel? The least we could do is explain things to her."

"Elena, she tried to kill you last time," Stefan said hastily. No way was he going to risk her life again. He vowed he would keep his sister away from Elena at all costs.

"But I have you and Damon to protect me. And Meredith and Bonnie and Matt, too." She leaned a head against his shoulder. "And she's too depressed to even think about attacking me right now. Besides, you know where she works, right?" Stefan nodded. "Then we can plan to confront her when we get the chance. Like maybe after we talk to Bonnie and the others."

It took Stefan a lot of courage to keep his face away from Elena's. She was using her beautiful face to beg him. But he always said he would keep his sister safe from his maniac for a sister...

"Alright, but you have to promise me that if she comes after you one more time, I am going to have to get rid of her," he reluctantly said.

"You...you're not going to killing her, are you?" Elena asked, horrified.

"If I have to, I will. I just want to put her out of her misery."