ATLANTA

After finally managing to locate Stefan's missing doppelgänger, Tom Avery, Caroline couldn't help but find herself torn as she stares at Tom's terrified face, her mind flashing back to what Stefan had told her. He had told her not to kill Tom, that Tom was a good person. But if Tom lived Stefan would die.
"What's happening?" The terrified human asks as he looks in-between Caroline and Enzo in terror "Who are you people?"
Enzo merely smirks "We're angels, come to deliver you to the sweet hereafter."

Caroline glares at the elder vampire before quickly bending down beside Tom forcing him to look into her eyes so she could compel him "Calm down. You can trust me."
"Bonding with him will make it harder on you." Enzo reminds her, watching the exchange in confusion.

"Let me do this my way." She hisses in annoyance focusing on Tom "I'm your friend. And you mean the world to me. Do you trust me?"

The newly compelled human merely nods "Of course."

"Good. Now I promise...you won't feel a thing." Watching him carefully it was in that second she made her decision, speeding up behind Enzo she takes him off guard snapping his neck. She needed to get Tom the hell out of here before the travelers or Enzo killed him.

NEW ORLEANS

Buffy stands with Rebekah and Hayley all of their eyes glued to the table where Jackson was laid, his shirt open exposing his chest. Turning to Hayley Buffy gestures to Jackson before smiling "Nice. Lucky girl."
Hayley snorts in amusement before shrugging in agreement, Buffy had a very good point, Jackson did look pretty great shirtless.

Freya who was currently drawing on his chest draws the ladies' attention "By doing this, we should be able to trace Dahlia's signature, all the way back to the source of her power. But I'll need to dig deep." Freya looks up in-between Buffy and Rebekah, while yes channeling Buffy would probably work better, the slayer's body clearly didn't respond well to being channeled.
"Rebekah, may I channel you?" The brunette nods and steps forward as she does Buffy looks over at Jackson "Are you sure you're okay to do this? I don't want you to feel like it was an order or something."

Jackson merely grins at the blonde "Piece of cake."

With that Buffy and Hayley back away slightly allowing the two witches to begin their work. As Rebekah and Freya take each other's hands and begin chanting Buffy couldn't help but wince in guilt as Jackson begins howling in pain.
However her guilt for asking him to do this quickly refocused onto worry as Rebekah gasps and quickly backs away staring at Freya in horror.

"Bex?" Buffy whispers softly approaching the witch with a worried frown on her face, placing a hand on Rebekah's arm she couldn't help but tense as she spots the horrified look filling Rebekah's features "Rebekah, what did you see?"
Rebekah quickly pulls Buffy's arm pulling the Slayer behind her protectively as she glares over at her sister, betrayal filling her heart "You." She breaths "You're the reason Dahlia's able to cast such powerful spells. She's channeling you."
Buffy clenches her jaw tightly and turns to Hayley "You and Jackson go. Now." She orders not moving her eyes from Freya as the two wolves reluctantly leave the room "You have five seconds to explain."

Freya turns to look at Buffy desperately praying for her to believe her as she spoke "Buffy, I had no idea. She must have found me. She wants to turn you against me."
Buffy couldn't help but tighten her fists together as she glares at the witch, knowing what they did now, even if Freya's motives were pure, Dahlia was using her to get to them. Her being there put them all in danger.
"Freya you said it yourself." Rebekah says sadly as she stands protectively in front of Buffy "You're bonded to Dahlia. I'm sorry. But it's better that you go. Please."

WHITMORE

Elena sighs as she walks through the halls of Whitmore after her meeting with the Dean regarding Jeremy, holding her phone against her ear she groans as a familiar voicemail message fills her ears "Hey it's Buffy. If it's the end of the world, beep me."

Running a hand through her wavy hair the Banshee sighs "Hey Buffy...um I know it's been a couple of days. But it's about Jeremy, I just had a meeting with his Dean and he is this close to getting kicked out. They said he's been cheating on his finals, skipping classes, and starting fights. So if you could call me back so we can come up with a game plan that would be great. Bye." With that, the banshee hangs up before heading down into the empty parking lot.

As she approaches her car the brunette comes to a halt a familiar blonde witch with curly hair blocks her path "Elena Gilbert. Just the girl I'm looking for."
Elena frowns in confusion as Liv continues to block her path to her car "Liv, hey, what are you doing here? Is this about Jeremy?"
The curly-haired witch tilts her head as she watches the banshee with a blank expression "No, this is about you." Without another word she raises her hand sending a blast of magic at Elena, causing the Banshee to go flying through the air landing on top of one of the nearby cars with a thud.

Wincing as her back connects with the wind-shield the brunette groans as she spots glass in her leg causing blood to drip heavily from the wound.
"I'm sorry about this." Liv says honestly as she approaches the brunette "My coven did everything in its power to protect you. But you're just too dangerous—"
Before Liv could finish her words Elena lets out a loud sonic scream the burst of power sending Liv flying off her feet before slamming her head into Elena's car.
As the blonde drops to the ground, unconscious Elena lets out a small breath before yanking the glass out of her leg "What the hell is happening?"

NEW ORLEANS

Buffy stares in-between Jackson and Hayley in absolute shock as she processes their words. The minute Freya had left they had pulled her away and then went into this long plan of theirs and honestly she hadn't been able to speak since.
Currently, she was pacing back and forth as she reruns their words through her head again. She didn't know why they thought that she would abandon Klaus and the others, did they honestly believe that she would be okay running from Dahlia for her entire life. She wouldn't run, she would fight and die making sure that Joy didn't spend her life like that.

"No." She finally huffs out as she crosses her arms and turns to face the two wolves who had their eyes glued to the blonde "I'm not abandoning them."
Hayley sighs and takes a hesitant step forward keeping her voice as calm as possible to not start an argument with the already stressed-out Slayer "Buffy, Dahlia isn't your fight. You and Joy are key to the future."

"I didn't ask for that!" The blonde screams out "I didn't ask for the power I have. And a hell of a lot of time I wish it wasn't me but it is. All I want is for my daughter to be safe and happy. I won't run, if I do we're be running our entire lives! I don't care if Dahlia isn't my fight, it's my family! And I will die to make sure Joy is safe, but I won't ruin her by making her live in fear every day of her life! That's no way to live. She deserves more than that."

Sighing as she tries to control all the anger and rage inside of herself that was slipping from her demon side, the blonde begins pacing again taking a few deep breaths to keep from breaking something. After a long beat, she is interrupted from her pacing when she hears a familiar Mikealson brother's voice fill the compound "Rebekah! Buffy!"

At Elijah's voice, Buffy clenches her jaw dreading the lecture they were probably about to get from him regarding kicking Freya out.
Turning back to the wolves Buffy gives them both a pointed look "Elijah's here, I have to go but..." Pausing she lowers her voice to just a whisper as she gives them both warning looks, neither of them had realized just how much danger they had put themselves in for even risking talking about this "Do not mention this again." She warns them "If Klaus finds out either of you suggested this, I won't be able to save you...and I won't stop him."

MYSTIC FALLS

"Seriously, Damon!" Elena exclaims as she sits on the couch while Xander attempted to sew up the gaping hole in her leg. However, what was driving her crazy was the fact that Damon was now torturing Liv for information, trying to figure out why she had tried to kill The Banshee.
Damon rolls his eyes in annoyance before taking the blade he had been using to remove Liv's fingernails off of the witch's hand and turns towards the Banshee "You called me." He reminds her "I was happily in the middle of an all-day sex sandwich with my new sexy friend Ally, but you asked for my help. So I'm taking out my frustrations." Ignoring the Banshee's glare he turns back to the witch and begins to remove her next fingernail before she cries out in agony "Wait!" She screams making the vampire quickly pull the knife away with a smirk on his face.

Pointing the blade at her throat he places the tip on her chin tilting her head up so she could look him in the eye "Talk."

"She's the last female doppelganger." Liv gasps out through the pain "After tonight, there might only be one male doppelganger. And if that happens, the travelers will come for you, Elena." She reveals turning to glance at Elena "To use you. The witches can't let that happen."

"Are you freaking kidding me!?" A new voice yells from the doorway causing the three to turn only to spot Jeremy stood there with a furious look on his face. The hunter quickly moves in front of Liv blocking Damon "You wanna kill Liv, you're gonna have to kill me too."

NEW ORLEANS

"What do you mean she's gone?"

At Elijah's question, Buffy winces slightly as she stands by the window of the study, yet as suspected this was not going to go well. Turning to glance at the suit-clad vampire the blonde runs a hand through her hair "Well technically she's not gone, gone. Just not here."

At her attempt at humor and deflection Elijah clenches his jaw in frustration, like his brother there were times where he questioned if Buffy took things seriously or if she was just more demented than he originally thought "Buffy-Anne, she is the only person who intimately understands the enemy we now face."
Buffy scoffs and crosses her arms "One, don't full-name me. Freaks me out and last time I worked with an enemy that knew my enemy. I got left for dead. I am trying to protect my daughter and you know... me! So I don't become a baby machine for Dahlia's twisted mind games."

Elijah sighs as he places his hands on the desk in front of him "We've done nothing but doubt Freya. Especially you and Niklaus. But may I remind you..." Slowly he turns to look at his sister who was looking torn with where to side at this point "...she kept her promise and she saved your life. We certainly haven't demonstrated the same kindness towards her."

While Buffy remains tense Rebekah sighs, "So what the bloody hell do we do now?"
"There's a jazz club in Algiers by the name of St. James Infirmary." Elijah informs the pair "Marcel has acquired it and Josephine is fortifying it as a sanctuary against magic."
At that Buffy's eyes widen and she shakes her head, they wanted her to be the good little Slayer, listen, and hideaway.
"I know it displeases you being in this damsel role Buffy." Elijah tells her before sighing, Buffy was a warrior, hiding was not in her nature "But you and Joy are not safe here. Marcel will be here at 9 pm to collect you. Pack your bags."

ATLANTA

After making a plan to get Tom out of Atlanta Caroline was leading the now feed human towards her car so she could drive him to the train station.
As he follows closely behind her unable to keep up with the blonde vampire's pace he grabs his stomach "I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life."
Caroline lets out a small laugh as she thinks back to that diner she had taken him to, he had gone through practically the whole menu "Yeah. I don't think anyone has."

Tom smiles before spinning around as he hears another voice approaching them "Then I suppose it was a fitting last supper."

Caroline's eyes widen in panic at the sound of Enzo's voice and spins around just in time to spot Enzo snap Tom's neck "Nooo!"

NEW ORLEANS

As he and his father enter St Anne's side by side with the newly fashioned knife that would end Dahlia's wretched existence, the hybrid frowns as he doesn't spot the witch. Stepping further into the church he calls out into the empty building "Well? What are you waiting for...you crone?"
"Now that you've arrived..." An unfamiliar voice speaks up from behind the two men making them both turn only to spot Dahlia leaning against the altar with a smirk on her face as she takes in the sight of the two vampires "...not a thing."

The witch watches the two carefully her eyes sharply landing on the blade in Mikeal's grasp, however, her smile never faltered as she waves her hands "Let us begin."
With her words people begin to enter the church surrounding the pair of immortals, it was becoming clear from how many people she had under her control that her power was beyond what Klaus had imagined.

Mikael however seemed more amused with the new challenge than anything "Ha-ha-ha. We are well met. So be it. Are you ready?" He asks turning to Klaus who merely smirks viciously as he prepares for the fight about to occur "I was born ready."

Buffy who was begrudgingly packing her things as well as a few things for Joy was in a state of terror. She was worried about Klaus and Mikael going after Dahlia, she just had a bad feeling about the whole thing, and it was killing her that she wasn't there to help him. But she also knew if she was there he would be too worried about keeping her safe from Dahlia he would probably get himself killed.
Luckily for the blonde that was in desperate need of a distraction the universe seemed to answer her prayers as her phone starts ringing.

Spotting her brother's name pop up on the screen the blonde smiles as she answers "Two calls in one day, lucky me. Who'd you kill? Who do I have to kill?"
"If you wanna kill Damon that is fine with me."
Buffy snorts in amusement at her brother's words before jumping up to sit on her bed, tucking her legs under her she sighs "What happened?"

"Liv attacked Elena. Damon tortured Liv. I made a deal with Liv and her twin brother Luke to keep Elena safe. So pretty much same old news."

Buffy groans in annoyance, how was it her family kept getting into these dangerous situations? Honestly, there were times that she wondered if she could have spared her family from all of this if she had never moved to Mystic Falls and had moved back in with her dad 8 years ago "If it helps I'm being forced into being a damsel in distress, while Klaus goes to kill the big bad witch that wants to make me a supernatural breeder."

"Your willingly playing Damsel? God, you must be in hell."

"Yep." She answers with a laugh before focusing on this deal of his, she hated the fact he was putting himself in danger, but the fact was she understood it. To be honest, she and Jeremy were more alike to each other than either of them was with Elena. Jeremy and her were hunters, trained to kill and protect, there was an instinct there and when you didn't do that...you felt empty. There was no hope of being normal because there was always a nagging pit in your stomach "So what's the what with this deal?"

"I gave them a Plan C. They'll help me protect Elena and I help them with the travelers, got Matt and Tyler to back me up. We've got this, boss."

At his teasing use of the term, 'Boss' Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes before slowly a proud smile crosses her lips "I told you so."
"What?"
Buffy sighs as she picks up a photo of her and Jeremy from her nightstand, imagining that he was here with her as she told him this "That you would be a great hunter. A leader."

There is silence for a long moment before she could practically hear Jeremy smile at her words "Well, I had a good teacher." Suddenly Jeremy lets out an annoyed breath making Buffy frown "Why doesn't she get it?"

At his words, Buffy groans and looks down at the scythe that was laid out next to her bags "Elena, let me guess. This has something to do with the 10 voicemails I have complaining about your lack of college commitment."

"Yeah...she just...she keeps going on about how I should be acting but...I'm not her...she pretends things are normal. I can't do that. She wants me to care about school but how can I when this is our lives?"

At his words Buffy's hand grazes the hilt of the scythe as she thinks of what to say, she knew exactly what he was saying. Because it was the exact way Elena had made her feel when she was resurrected. She hadn't been able to understand that it wasn't possible.
"I know Jer." She whispers "She wants the best for us but...she doesn't understand that just maybe what our lives are going to be...aren't what she pictures. Let me ask you something, other than being with Bonnie, do feel happy in Mystic Falls? How do you feel?"

There is a long minute of silence as Jeremy processes her question, it wasn't a small question, to say the least, it was something that by answering could completely change his life "When I'm not with Bonnie...I feel...Buffy, I feel empty here. Like there's something else I should be doing." He pauses as though taking in his own words realizing what he had just admitted before he lets out an amused laugh "That's how you felt being here."

"Exactly." She admits rubbing her slightly watery eyes as she does "We're hunters Jer, it's in our nature to want to protect people. To fight." Pausing Buffy sighs knowing that her next words may possibly destroy her relationship with Elena for good if she were to ever find out. But she knew that emptiness Jeremy was feeling and as time went on it was only going to get worse until he found his purpose, and if she had to ruin her relationship with Elena to make sure Jeremy would be happy...that was a risk she was willing to take.

"When I spoke to Giles..." She reveals trying to keep herself together "...he pointed out that he could use some help with Field missions while some of the girls are still training. I plan to pop down to Cleveland at some point in the next few months for a few meetings but...he told me to tell you something. He wants you to take a few months to think about it but...Jer he asked for you. He wants you to come and help and train with Slayers on the Hellmouth. So think about it, and if you decide you want it, whenever you're ready...I'll help you."