A/N: I'm sorry again for the wait! Between working from home and playing teacher I've been busier than usual. I started this story in September when my daughter had returned to school and having her home and having to do school work with her after I finish work is eating into my reading and writing time.

April 27th 2010, Mystic Falls, Virginia

Song: Youngblood; 5 Seconds of Summer

And I'm just a dead man walking tonight

But you need it, yeah, you need it

All of the time

Yeah, ooh ooh ooh

Imogen's POV

We wake late as Scarlett was with Jenna overnight. Damon has his arms wrapped around me and his hands are on my tummy. I smile before dashing out of bed to the bathroom to vomit. Damon comes in behind me and holds my hair out of the way, rubbing my back gently.

"Urgh" I groan out.

"You okay? Is there something wrong?" He asks, worriedly.

"I'm fine. Morning sickness, another pregnancy symptom." I explain.

He kisses my head as I go to the sink to brish my teeth.

We get ready for the day and I call Elijah to let him know Klaus is in Ric's body and he knows I'm his niece. He tells me not to worry about it and that tomorrow is the full moon so Klaus will likely be in his normal body very soon.

We head out to Ric's apartment as we think that may be where Katherine is. We break the door open.

"Katherine." Damon says.

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"We are here to see if you deserve to be rescued." He replies.

"I'm really not sure why." I say, rolling my eyes.

"I figured when you disappeared from the tomb you still might be kicking. Riklaus was blending way too easily. Figured he probably had some coaching." Damon explains, rolling a vial of clear liquid on his fingers.

"Is that...?" Katherine starts, before breaking off.

"Vervain? Your salvation." Damon replies.

"He compelled me to stay here. It's not going to undo anything." Katherine says.

"There's always a loophole. Did he tell you to stay in this apartment until he said it was okay to leave?" Damon asks. Katherine tries to reply but is unable to.

"You can't say. Did he tell you to do absolutely everything he says until the end of time?"

"No." She replies.

"There's your loophole. Drink this and it'll prevent any further compulsion." Damon says.

"Why are we helping her?" I ask, confused.

"Because despite what she did to me and Stefan, when she ran from Klaus she was just a scared teenager. She doesn't deserve to be tortured by him." He explains.

"Careful. You're showing your soft side again." I reply.

"I might just want to torture her myself." He replies with a glint in his eyes before tossing the vial to Katherine.

"Be careful with that. If he finds out you have that, you're never getting out of here." He says as she opens the vial and takes a sip before coughing.

"You owe me. And I will collect." Damon tells her before turning around and walking away. I follow him with a sigh.

We head to pick Scarlett up before heading home. When we are there we convince Jenna and Jeremy to stay at the boarding house because of Klaus being in Ric's body, which they agree to and they join us a little later. We know that with Klaus in town and the full moon being tomorrow it is likely the sacrifice will happen tomorrow night, so we spend the rest of the day together, just in case things don't go as planned.

April 28th 2010, Mystic Falls, Virginia

The next morning I wake with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I know tonight is the full moon and I'm not looking forward to what will happen. I groan and roll over to look at my husband.

"Morning" he says.

"Morning" I sigh.

"Elijah and Sophia are coming over this morning aren't they?" He asks.

"They are." I say, leaning over to kiss him before hopping out of bed to get ready.

Once we're all ready we head to the kitchen. Damon puts Scarlett in her high chair and gives her breakfast. I get us blood bags from the basement. I've found if I stick with blood instead of food I don't get as sick. Once we're done we head to the library where we're joined by Stefan and Elena. A short while later the doorbell rings. Damon goes to answer and is followed back in by Elijah and Sophia.

Once we've said our hellos Elijah gets straight down to business.

"Tonight is the full moon. We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse." He says.

"I thought the same." I say.

"All right, how do we break this curse?" Stefan asks.

"Well, the ritual itself is relatively straightforward. The ingredients, so to speak, you already know." Elijah replies.

"The moonstone." Stefan says.

Elijah nods. "A witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone. After that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each."

"And where do I fit into it?" Elena asks.

"The final part of the ritual." Elijah says, holding up a wooden box. "Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelgänger...to the point of your death."

Stefan takes Elena's hand. Damon rubs my back gently and I rest my head on his shoulder.

"And that's where you come in." Elena says.

"This is an elixir that I acquired some 500 years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation." Elijah explains, holding up a glass bottle from the wooden box.

"So I'll be dead?" Elena asks.

"And then you won't." Elijah replies. Stefan raises an eyebrow.

"Sophia and I have checked and tested the potion. It will work.

"What about John's ring as a back up plan?" Stefan asks.

"Those rings only work on humans. The doppelgänger's a supernatural occurrence. Odds are, the ring won't work." Elijah replies..I nod in agreement.

"What if it doesn't work, Elena?" Stefan asks sadly.

"Then I guess I'll just be dead." Elena says with a shrug.

"It will work." I say. Sophia nods in agreement.

Elena gives me a small smile in response and Damon kisses my head. Stefan sighs and walks out.

"Do we know if Klaus has everything he needs to do this? Does he have a werewolf?" Elena asks.

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tonight, he will." Elijah replies.

"Hopefully it's that bitch Jules. I like Mason." Damon says.

"Damon Salvatore admits to liking someone. Shocker!" I say, giving him a nudge. He rolls his eyes at me.

"You'd think he'd understand why I'm willing to do this." Elena sighs, referring to Stefan.

"Why are you?" Sophia asks.

"I'm the key to breaking the curse. Klaus is here because of me. If I don't stop him, then he's going to hurt people. It's that simple." Elena replies.

We hear Jenna and Alaric near the front door so we all head towards them.

"Get out!" Jenna shouts.

"Jenna, Jenna!" Ric replies.

"Get out!" Jenna shouts again, aiming a crossbow at him.

"Jenna, put the crossbow down, okay? It's me." Ric says.

"Stay away from me." Jenna scowls. Stefan appears.

"What's going on?" Elena asks.

"It's me, Elena, I swear, okay? He let me go. Klaus let me go." Ric tells her.

"Prove it." Damon asks, narrowing his eyes at Ric.

Ric looks at Jenna. "Okay, uh, first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to..."

"Okay, it's him." She says, interrupting him and lowering the crossbow.

"Why did he let you go?" Stefan asks.

"He wanted me to deliver a message. The sacrifice happens tonight." Ric replies.

"We figured as much." I say with a sigh.

We all move into the parlour and take seats. I sit in Damon's lap with my head resting on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and rubs my back.

"So you don't remember anything that happened?" Stefan asks.

"No. It's like I blacked out and woke up three days later. Katherine was there." Ric replies.

"She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can." Stefan tells Ric.

"So what else did I do?" Ric asks.

We fill Ric in on what happened whilst Klaus was in his body. Once we're finished Elijah, Sophia, Jenna and Ric all leave. Jeremy is out with Anna, and Stefan takes Elena out for the day, leaving Damon, Scarlett and I in the house.

We enjoy a few hours together before Damon leaves to meet Ric. I promised I would stay at home with Scarlett as Damon doesn't want any harm coming to me or the baby. It's frustrating but I understand. Jenna comes over to keep me company and we spend the evening watching movies, anxiously waiting for everyone to return home.

Damon's POV

I head to the Grill to meet Ric, frustrated that I have to leave my pregnant wife and our daughter at home. I know she can look after herself, and that no one can get in without her keying them into the talisman, but I always hate being away from Imogen. The soulmate bond starts to hurt until we're back together.

I slide onto a stool at the bar and order a drink.

"I'll have the same." Ric says, taking the stool next to me.

We sit in comfortable silence until a sandy haired man approaches us.

"Gentlemen? Why so glum?" He says.

"Ugh. Klaus, I presume." I say, taking a swig of my whiskey.

"In the flesh." He replies before turning to Ric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" I say with a huff.

"I'm told your brother fancies my doppelgänger, and you're married to my niece, who happens to be her adopted sister. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret." Klaus says.

"Ha. Thanks for the advice. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?" I ask.

"You are kidding?" He says, before turning to Ric. "He is kidding, right?"

"No, not really." Ric tells him.

"It will upset my wife, you know, your niece. Had to try." I explain.

"Let me be clear...I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." Klaus says before leaving.

"That was fun." I say to Ric.

"Do you really want to be pissing off your in laws?" Ric asks. I shrug in response.

"You think his Vampire and werewolf are anyone we know?" I ask.

"I think you'll be dead if you interfere." Ric replies.

"But if he has someone we know they'll be dead and that will upset my wife." I say.

"And you'll be dead if you interfere."

"Are you gonna help me or what?" I ask.

Ric sighs. "What do you want me to do?"

"We need to visit Katherine and see if she knows who he has." I say. "You need to invite me in."

Ric nods. "Okay. Let's get out of here."

We head to Ric's apartment and as soon as he enters we hear Katherine.

"Look who's dumb enough to come back." She says.

"Well, somebody had to invite him in. Damon. Would you like to, uh, come in?" Ric says. I walk into the apartment.

Katherine eushes over to me. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

I pin her against the wall. "I gave you vervain, now I'm here to collect. I got it from here, Ric." I say.

"You sure?" Ric asks.

"Yeah, only one of us needs to get blamed for thisif it's anyone we know. Get back to the house." I sayml.

"Okay." Ric replies, leaving.

"Get blamed for what?" Katherine asks.

"I need to know who Klaus has as his vampire and werewolf, and where they are." I say.

"Why? What are you going to do?" Katherine asks.

"Free them if it's anyone we know. And like." I say.

"No. You can't interfere, Damon. Klaus will kill you and everyone you've ever met." Katherine says.

"Imogen is already at risk of losing her sister. She's not losing anyone else." I growl.

"No. No way."

"You should like this. It's going to buy at least another month of your pathetic life." I growl out.

"Right. Except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing." She replies.

"What?" I say, startled.

"Yeah. He's got Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood. Therefore, I'm in the clear." Katherine replies.

"Fuck. And where'd he get that idea from?" I ask, knowing it came from her. I walk towards her menacingly.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to get myself out of here." She says, holding her hands up.

"Where are they?" I grind out through gritted teeth.

"The tomb. He's got them in the tomb." She replies.

"Thank you." I reply, then I leave.

I arrive at the tomb to find a male witch protecting Caroline and Tyler.

"Which one are you trying to save? The blond, or the wolf? Did you really think Klaus would leave them unprotected?" He asks me.

"Wishful thinking." I reply with a sigh.

I rush over to the male witch and pin him on the ground. I start strangling him but he uses his powers and throws me back against some rocks. I groan as I hit the ground. The witch gets up and uses his powers to give me a witchy migraine, causine to scream out in pain. I think of Imogen, Scarlett and my unborn child and try to fight it. Suddenly I hear a gunshot and the witch falls to the ground. I look up and see Matt with a rifle. I quickly get up, snap the witches neck and look at Matt, quirking an eyebrow in suspicion.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Where's Caroline?" He asks in response.

I sigh. "Listen, man. Not a good time to play the hero." I tell him. He cocks the rifle and points it at me.

"Where is she? And what did he do to her?" He asks.

I put my hands up and start walking towards him slowly "I'm just here to rescue her." I say before rushing over to him and hitting him with the butt of the rifle, causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious. I pick up the rifle and clear the bullets out of it.

"You're lucky I already screwed up once today or you'd be dead." I mutter as I crouch down to pick up the bullet. I realise they're wooden and sigh again before standing up and heading into the tomb.

"Damon?" Caroline asks as I enter. I walk over to where she's chained up next to Tyler.

"Your boyfriend's outside with a rifle loaded with wooden bullets. You have some explaining to do." I tell her.

"What, Matt?" She asks.

"Matt knows about you?" Tyler asks.

"No, I..." she starts to reply.

I interrupt her. "Shh. Tomorrow's problem." I say as I rip the chains apart so she can get up. "Let's just get you out of here." I start to walk towards the exit.

"Wait, Damon No! I'm not leaving without him." Caroline says.

I groan. "Ohhh. It's getting dark soon. How fast can you get the hell away from here?" I say to Tyler.

"I need to get to my family's cellar. I can lock myself up." He replies.

"I'll help." Caroline adds.

I go over and crouch in front of him. "Don't make me regret this. Call Mason." I say before breaking his chains.

We leave the tomb as it's getting dark. Matt is starting to wake up so Caroline rushes over to him.

"Hey, Matt!" She says before turning to me. "Hey. Did you hit him?!"

"Did you already forget about the part with the gun and the wooden bullets?" I say incredulously.

Tyler interrups us by growling and holding his chest whilst looking at the moon. I let out another groan. Imogen is going to handy ass to me.

"Tyler? Tyler?" Caroline calls.

"It's starting." he replies. I roll my eyes, it's obvious it's starting.

"Grab boy wonder and let's go." I say before stalking off into the woods.

"Come on." Caroline says grabbing Matt.

"What's happening? Is he okay?" Matt asks.

"He better not wolf out on us." I say as my phone starts to ring. I pull it out and see Stefan's name on the screen. I groan before hitting the button to answer.

"Bad time, little bro."

"What the hell are you doing?" He asks.

"Saving the day. Klaus had Caroline and Tyler. I figured you'd understand." I reply.

"Klaus came and took Elena." He replies.

"It's part of the plan. I just hope he has another wolf and vamp because he ain't getting these two." I tell him before hanging up.

I see Tyler double over and fall to the ground as his transformation begins. Fuck.

"Tyler!" Matt calls.

"I don't know if I can hold it off. Get out of here." Tyler says.

"Tyler, it'll be okay." Caroline tells him.

"Go!" Tyler shouts.

"You've got time. We're almost there, just..." Caroline soothes.

"It's happening faster." Tyler grinds out.

"Tyler, it's okay." Caroline says.

Tyler looks up and I see his eyes are yellow. He rushes over towards Caroline so I intercept him. We both fall to the ground, me on my back with Tyler above me. I try to push him off but he snaps, catching my arm in the process. If this doesn't kill me Imogen will.

"Damon..." Caroline starts as I get up.

"I'm fine." I say, hoping that as he wasn't fully changed it will be okay.

"Get out of here!" Tyler shouts.

"Get to the Lockwood cellar. If it held him in, it'll keep him out. If it doesn't...use these." I say handing Caroline the rifle and wooden bullets. "It'll buy you a couple seconds. Go. Go!"

They run towards the cellar and I leave to go to to Ric's apartment.

Once there I run through the door at vamp speed, stopping behind Klaus.

"I wasn't aware you'd been invited in." Klaus says.

"I've come here to tell you that you need to find another vampire and werewolf for your ritual. It's bad enough you're sacrificing Elena, my wife doesn't need to lose two friends too." I tell him. "Oh, I also killed your witch."

Klaus picks up his phone. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs. Need a closer look?" He says, throwing the phone to me. I look at the screen.

"Jules. You couldn't have picked better." I say with a smirk.

"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse...You learn a thing or two. First rule...always have a backup. Backup werewolf. Backup witch." Klaus says.

"Backup vampire." I finish.

"I've got that covered, too." Klaus replies before knocking me out.

"Hey. Damon. Hey. Damon!" I hear a female voice saying. My cheeks are being slapped and I can taste blood in my mouth.

"Ahh. What the hell happened?" I ask.

"He's gone. He went to do the ritual." Katherine says.

"We want him to, just not with Caroline and Tyler." I tell her. She nods in response.

"What is this, Damon?" Grabbing my arm.

I sigh. "It's a werewolf bite. And if that doesn't kill me, my wife will for getting it."

"So that's what a werewolf bite looks like." She asks.

"Yep."

"It's not that bad." She says.

"Will be." I say, rolling down my sleeve to hide it.

"So that's it? You're just...going to die?" Katherine asks.

"Well, that depends. You know anything about a cure?" I ask. She shakes her head no. I sigh. "Me, either."

"145 years and no last goodbye?" She asks.

I look at her incredulously. "You don't get a goodbye."

"No. Don't leave mad." She says.

"Us ending up on good terms isn't exactly on my bucket list, Katherine."

I try to leave but she stops me.

"You're fucked." Katherine says.

"I know. I best go make sure the rest of the night goes to plan." I say before leaving and heading to the quarry.

I'm walking through the streets when I see John Gilbert.

"Great. I was just thinking about getting a bite to eat." I say with a menacing grin.

"Elena hasn't returned any of my calls for days. I need to see her." He replies.

"Well, you're a day late and a daughter short, John." I reply.

"What are you talking about?" He asks.

"Klaus has her. Sacrifice goes down tonight." I reply.

"How could you let that happen? You were supposed to keep her safe. Wasn't that the sum total of your plan? To keep her safe?" He replies.

"She is safe. Elijah has a potion that will bring her back to life."

"You what?!" John shouts.

"When Klaus kills Elena in the sacrifice, she will come back to life." I tell him.

John tries to grab me but I use my speed and spin him around, grabbing him instead.

"You do not want to mess with me right now." I growl out.

"How do you know the potion will work?" He asks.

"Imogen tested it. She thinks it will work."

"We need something more concrete than that. I have an idea. Where's Bonnie?" He asks.

"At the witch house." I reply with a sigh before leading him there, via the Gilbert house to grab a box of journals.

Once we arrive at the witch house I stay upstairs talking to Ric whilst John goes down to talk to Bonnie, Luka and Jonas. After a while I head downstairs.

"We found something in the Gilbert journals." Bonnie tells me.

"Johnathan journaled the story of a mother who called on Emily's services. The woman's baby was sick; dying. Emily cast a spell that would bind the woman's life force with her child." John says.

"Skip to the save Elena part." I tell him impatiently.

"Well, the child died, but the mother's life force flowed through her, restoring her to life." He continues.

"How is this any different to the potion? They both rely on magic." I ask.

"Magic, nature, demands balance. Giving her my life force will maintain the balance. It will work." He tells me.

"Whatever. Your daughter, your call. I would do the same for Scarlett." I say.

Bonnie moves to place her hands on either side of his head and starts chanting. After a few minutes I get impatient.

"Come on, Bonnie, we got a hybrid to kill." I say. Luka and Jonas both glare at me to be quiet.

"It's done." Bonnie says a few moments later, removing her hands.

"That's it? Let's go." I say, walking out of the room. Bonnie, Luka and Jonas follow.

"It's time." Elijah says as we reach the top of the stairs. We walk out of the house.

"All right. I got the weapons in the car." Ric says, following behind us.

"Jonas, Luka and Bonnie are the only weapons we need." Elijah tells him.

Ric tries to leave the house but is held back by an invisible barrier.

"What is this?" He shouts.

"We can't put anyone else at risk." Bonnie tells him.

"I can't stay here!" Ric replies.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie says.

"You can't do this! Damon?"

"Sorry, buddy. She's right. You need to stay safe. Let us handle this." I say as we all walk away.

"No! You can't do this. Bonnie! Bonnie!" I hear Ric shout as he hits the doorframe in anger.

We head to the quarry and arrive just as Klaus finishes drinking Elena's blood. I see Stefan laid on the ground with wood sticking out of his back. He must have tried to stop the ritual somehow.

"I can feel it. It's happening." We hear Klaus say, looking up at the moon. I hear his bones begin to crack and can see he has yellow eyes, but still has the black veins of a vampire below his eyes. "Yes, yes!"

Klaus is suddenly thrown through the air. I see the flames in the bowl reignite, startling Greta. Jonas starts going down the hillside, followed by Bonnie and Luka, all three chanting a spell. Before Greta can react, I sneak up behind her and knock her unconscious, then I kneel down to pick up Elena.

"No! You were dead! And who the hell are the other two?" Klaus shouts. They don't reply, carrying on their chant. I see Klaus contort with pain, and hear his screams. I carry Elena over to Stefan and lay her down next to him. I kneel down and rip the wood from his back, causing him to grunt in pain. I go to help him stand up but he grabs my jacket, stopping me.

"I need you to get her out of here!" He grits out.

"What about you?" I ask.

"I'm not leaving until he's dead. Go!" He replies.

I sigh and pick up Elena's body. I start to walk away when I hear Klaus. I stop walking and turn around to watch.

"Elijah?" He says.

"Hello, brother." Elijah replies, punching his arm into Klaus' chest and grabbing his heart.

"In the name of our family, Niklaus..." Elijah says, twisting his hand.

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus shouts out.

"What?" Elijah asks.

"Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you'll never find them." Klaus tells him.

"Elijah! Don't listen to him." I hear Stefan shout. I can't believe that all this might have been in vain.

"Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word...brother." Klaus says. I see Elijah hesitating.

"Do it and I'll take you both out." Bonnie says. I know she's only saying herself as Jonas and Luka probably wouldn't go against Elijah.

"You'll die." Elijah says.

"I don't care." Bonnie replies.

Elijah looks down at Klaus and then back up. He looks me in the eye as he speaks. "I'm sorry."

I hear Bonnie and Stefan both shout No and start running towards them. Before they can get close Elijah flees with Klaus.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I'm not looking forward to going home and telling my wife that her own father double crossed us, on top of the werewolf bite I got from Tyler. I can only pray that Elena will at least wake up so she doesn't lose her sister too.