Lockwood House

"Good morning, Mayor Lockwood." Caroline greeted Carol as she was leaving her house.

"Hello, Caroline." Carol returned the greeting rather friendly; walking towards her car, as though she wasn't involved in a plot to rid Mystic Falls of vampires with Meredith and Caroline was one of them.

"Is Tyler in?" Caroline inquired, having come to apologize to Tyler for making him feel like he didn't matter to her.

"No. He went out to a party last night and didn't return." Carol answered. "He's been doing that a lot lately, since Matt moved."

"Oh."

"Yes." Carol replied, before getting into her car. "I have to get to work."

"Thanks, Mayor Lockwood." Caroline said, and watched as Carol pull out and drive away.

Once Carol's car was out of sight, Caroline focuses on her hearing to check if Tyler was really not home and you found that he wasn't and decided to wait for him.

TRANSITION

Gilbert House

Morning found Alaric busy doing push-ups in the backyard, but his mind wasn't entirely on getting back in share. He was thinking about what Stefan told him yesterday, Klaus' price for turning Stefan's emotions off.

It was clear that regaining Klaus' trust was going to cost Stefan dearly, even before Stefan went to see Klaus, but now they knew that the cost was far reaching and affected everyone. Erasing someone's memory was one thing, erasing a person's existence was another.

The idea of forgetting that Elena existed was horrifying to Alaric, it was wrong in every sense. He wouldn't mind if Klaus was erased from existence, and his entire family, but not Elena. They had to find another way for Stefan to get close to Klaus.

"Here I am, prepared to give you the speech of a lifetime to get you to stop drinking and find a reason to live and I find you exercising." Bonnie suddenly said, surprising Alaric whose arms gave out and he hit the ground with a thud.

"Ow!" Alaric cried out, turning around.

"Sorry."

"No need." Alaric responded, sitting up. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I just told you." Bonnie replied.

"Oh, yeah. Stefan already beat you to it but thanks."

"Are you OK?" Bonnie inquired, sitting down facing Alaric.

"I will be one day. I hope."

"You went from drowning yourself in alcohol to having hope. I can definitely say that there's hope you will be OK."

"Thanks." Alaric replied, before asking. "How are you? I'm sorry I'm only asking now but I wasn't in the right state of mind to ask before."

"It's OK. We all have our own ways of grieving Elena's death and I'm getting there. Caroline and I have being there for each other. I just wish Elena's death wasn't the reason we are closer." Bonnie said.

"Hey." Stefan greeted the two, having slept at the house and woke up a few minutes ago due to Bonnie's knocking.

"Morning." Bonnie returned the greeting, standing up, Alaric as well. "I'm glad you're here, you were my next visit."

"I was?"

"Yes. We need to talk about how you have being treating Tyler."

TRANSITION

Lockwood House

"What are you doing here?" Tyler questioned when he found Caroline at his house when he arrived.

"Waiting for you so that I can apologize." Caroline replied, glad her patience paid off as she got off the wall she had been leaning on. "I'm sorry, Tyler. I'm really, really sorry for what I said and implied and for making you feel like you don't matter to me. You do matter."

Tyler looked at Caroline, like really looked at her, so much so that she became self conscious, before he passed by her wordlessly, taking his house key out and unlocked the door.

"Tell me how sorry you are after I take a bath." He said, and opened the door and indicated for her to enter.

This was more than Caroline hope for and so she couldn't help brightening up a bit as she walked inside and Tyler followed her, closing the door behind him.

TRANSITION

Gilbert House

"How I have being treating Tyler?"

"Yes. You might not be physically attacking him, Stefan. But I've seen how you look at him when we either find him at the Grill or he finds us there." Bonnie replied. "And he notices that too, why do you think we no longer see him there and when we do he usually leaves?"

"Bonnie, I..." Stefan went to respond, to defend himself.

"That was a rhetorical question. I'm not done." Bonnie interrupted. "I get that you lived here before but before you returned, this was Tyler's home and though we weren't close, we grew up together. You got to live your childhood but you interrupted ours when you and Damon entered into our lives.

Right now, you're interrupting Tyler's. Yes, he bit Damon and Damon died but that was out of Tyler's control. Taking your frustration on him and making him feel alienated because we hang out with you is low, Stefan.

I know Caroline and I are to blame too; we're working on it, that's why I'm here. Get your act together and stop antagonizing and taking your frustration on Tyler. We all lost Elena but we're not acting out like you. Grow up and don't be Damon two point o.

We already lost too many people we care about. With Matt leaving, we're all we got. We shouldn't be antagonizing each other, especially with Klaus still in town with his pack. He has his pack, we should have each other; we need each other."

"You're right. We need each other." Stefan agreed after a moment, thinking that maybe he didn't need to cut his emotional ties but strengthen them because Elena's memory was tied to the people she cared about, loved and grew up with.

Seeking to have his last connection with Elena to avenge her now seemed like trying to erase her existence like Klaus proposed.

"If you agree, how about we have breakfast at the Grill with Tyler?" Bonnie proposed. "Caroline is at his house. Ric, you can join us too. Actually, you need to join us. It's time we reunite. I don't think Elena would want to see us divided."

TRANSITION

Lockwood House

"You were saying?" Tyler asked, entering the television room after taking a shower.

"That I'm sorry for making you think that you don't matter." Caroline answered, shifting on the couch to make space for Tyler. "I've been a horrible friend to you but I'll improve because you do matter, Tyler. Starting with getting Stefan to stop antagonizing you.

Bonnie is actually going to pay Stefan a visit after talking with Ric to get him to stop antagonizing you. We talked about this and..."

"You talked about this and you decided to pay me a visit instead of Stefan?"

"It's not about choosing between you two, Ty. You're both my friends. I wouldn't make you choose between Matt and I so don't make me choose between you and Stefan because even if I choose you, some part of me will resent you for making me choose." Caroline said.

"We've lost people we care about, and I don't want to lose more." She added.

"Fine." Tyler responded, and got a happy smile from Caroline before she received a text notification and checked it.

"It's a text from Bonnie." Caroline informed after reading it. "She already spoke with Stefan and things went well and we're all having breakfast at the Grill. Ric too. Apparently Stefan got Ric to quit drinking and do something productive."

"Aren't we moving a little fast?"

"No, we're not. Your mom told me about your partying and I think you need a change and a breakfast with your friends is a great start. Come on."

TRANSITION

Mystic Grill

A few minutes later found Caroline and Tyler joining Alaric, Bonnie and Stefan at the Grill, with Stefan apologizing to Tyler and Tyler accepting the apology before they made their breakfast orders and a conversation started, everyone catching up.

For the first time since Liam and Matt and Scott left, Tyler felt like a part of something, a friendship, while Stefan took everything in and his decision to straighten his ties with the group solidified.

Alaric, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel a little at peace for the first time since Elena was killed and he decided to stick to drinking juice instead of alcohol, effectively quitting alcohol.

It wasn't going to be easy, he knew that, but he now wanted to be sober; for himself, Jenna, Elena, Jeremy, Damon and every one of their friends who died and those that were still alive. For now, he forgot about Klaus and focused on the people at the table.

As the conversation shifted to telling stories of those who died, Bonnie and Caroline shared big proud smiles, happy that they were able to unite everyone.

TRANSITION

Presidential Room

Sunrise found Cora, Lydia, Malia, Rebekah and Scott fast asleep and naked in the presidential room, sharing the bed; Scott in the middle facing up, Lydia and Malia's heads resting on either side of his chest, cuddling him, and Cora and Rebekah spooning Lydia and Malia, respectively, under a sheet.

The floor was covered in discarded clothes originating from the closed door, and on the other side of the door, a trail of clothes and shoes led to the elevator which hasn't been used since they came in, until now as two of the most trusted presidential suite cleaners, a middle-aged man and woman, walked out of the elevator.

The sight greeted them and they looked around before they went to work, starting with picking the clothes, which they realized some of them were torn, and shoes off the floor although neither opened the closed presidential bedroom door.

The two professional cleaners did their work and left afterwards with a plan to return to finish off the presidential room once there wasn't anyone inside. It wasn't until around eleven in the morning, however, that one of the room's occupants woke up, that being Malia.

She slowly woke up and was greeted by Scott's heartbeats and steady breathing, someone spooning her, a mixture of scents and chemosignals and the scent of sex and all the chemosignals that come with it.

However, though she was slowly waking up, the memories of last night and early hours of the morning came flooding in; from the club, to the limousine, the presidential elevator and then the presidential suite which led to her room with Scott and what she did with him and three others.

Malia raised her head and looked at Scott. It seemed like she got her question of whether Scott would mind if she invited Cora to join them for a threesome answered, and his answer concerning Lydia was revised and ended with all of them having sex which included one more person; Rebekah.

Eve, Mary, Mrs Ikooko and Mrs Okami's advice didn't appear out of place anymore. It seemed wise and forethoughtful. Malia and Scott were the most powerful people in New Beacon Pack, both politically and nonpolitically, and having a relationship with each other was kind of dangerous.

If they ended up breaking up and on opposite sides, the pack could be divided between them, probably spelling the end of New Beacon Pack as they knew it because their enemies would seek to take advantage of the divide and destroy them, or better yet, have them destroy each other.

Encouraging Malia to discuss her sex life with Scott and the possibility of inviting other people to it, particularly the Royal Guard which consisted of some of the most trusted members of the pack, now seemed like more than Beacon Council sticking its nose where it doesn't belong.

It seemed like a strategy to limit the possibilities of cheating between the two alphas, being that cheating was a possible reason for a nasty break up considering Malia and Scott were going to be separated in order for them to pursue their post-high-school careers and plans.

Malia saw that now and understood what was meant by; heavy is the head that wears the crown and as such it should be attended to and kept satisfied, lest the crown becomes too heavy a burden and the head falters.

It was kind of broad but Malia understood it now and she realized that it wasn't just meant for Scott but her as well, for she was Crown Princess Alpha and the second most powerful person in New Beacon Pack, after Scott, the King Alpha.

The question now was; what were she and Scott going to do now that they crossed the monogamy line? And what was she going to do about Scott being the first one to skip the line by kissing the new girl they hardly knew?

As though Scott heard the question, he slowly woke up, and was hit with the same scents and chemosignals Malia was first hit with when she woke up, and they brought in a rush of memories that saw Scott's eyes snap open, especially when he felt two warm bodies on each side of him instead of one, and was met with Malia's beautiful brown eyes.

For a moment, everything faded away and Scott found himself blessed with the presence of the werecoyote by the name Malia Tate, his third chance at love that he possibly ruined last night. And just like that, the moment ended and reality set in and his heart began to sprint.

"I'm sorry, Malia." Scott apologized.

"For what?" Malia asked deliberately, causing Scott to avert his eyes.

"For kissing Rebekah. I shouldn't have done that."

"You're right." Malia replied pointedly. "You shouldn't have, so why did you? Am I not enough?"

"You're enough." Scott responded without missing a beat, eyes no longer averted, now locked with hers. "I didn't have any reason to do what I did and I don't have an excuse to justify kissing another girl, especially after we kissed and in front of your eyes.

It was disrespectful of me and wrong and I am sorry."

"Then why did you kiss her again, Scott?" Malia questioned.

"You commanded me to and I followed."

"Why?" Malia followed up.

"It seemed important to you and after what I did, I will do anything you want." Scott answered. "I love you, Malia. I never meant to hurt you."

"Would you do it again?"

"No." Scott replied without hesitation. "If you give me another chance, I will not waste it or take it for granted. I want you and no one else, Malia. I promise."

Malia paused her inquiry, realizing that Scott thought that she intended to end their relationship. In truth, she was asking him all these questions to know and understand where they stood and what was on his mind and the reasons behind what he did.

She was also asking to see if she did something wrong for Scott to kiss another girl right in front of her and then engage in a fivesome with her, her cousin, their best friend and a stranger who supposedly really liked him, hence her next question.

"Why did you sleep with everyone here if you only want me?" Malia asked.

"Why did you?" Scott turned the question around. "If I remember correctly, and I'm pretty sure I do, I'm not the only one who slept with everyone here."

Malia went quiet at that. It was true that he wasn't the only one who slept with everyone there, she did too; they all did. Multiple times. It was no wonder Lydia passed out after her last orgasm.

"I don't know." Malia responded after a moment. "I don't have answers for what happened after I kissed Rebekah. (Beat) You know, she likes you. I saw the way she looked at you when you first met through your eyes in the memory you shared with me.

She looked at you kind of the same way you looked at me when I first turned into a human after you forced me to."

"How was I looking at you?"

"In complete awe, like you were looking at the most amazing thing in the world, totally different from the frightening red-eyed werewolf with a dominating alpha roar you used to make me submit and shift when I was a coyote." Malia replied. "It's one of the reasons why I use red for things I don't understand."

Scott couldn't help but smile at that.

"You are the most amazing thing in the world." He said, remembering when he first laid eyes on human-Malia; he was indeed in awe of the girl who just a moment before, was a coyote trying to stand toe to toe with him after he got in her way.

Malia returned the smile and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before laying her head back on his chest.

"Your lips mostly smell like me, by the way." She commented, causing Scott to chuckle softly so as not to wake Lydia and the others, having learned a lot from the fivesome.

"You were the last one I went down on." He responded, before asking after a few moments. "What now?"

"I'm not breaking up with you." Malia told him, and felt his muscles relax in relief. "But we have some things we need to discuss. But not here, in the shower."

With that, they carefully untangled themselves from the others and headed for the bathroom, where Malia proceeded to reveal what she realized about Beacon Council's motives and Eve, Mary, Mrs Ikooko and Mrs Okami's advice.

She figured it was probably better that they know where they stand by the time everyone wakes up.

TRANSITION

Argent Arms International

"You know, you don't have to help me clean this place up. Derek is sending help." Chris said to Melissa, who had a day off from work, as they walked into the building.

"I know. But I need something to do with my extra time." Melissa responded. "Since I don't have to work back-to-back shifts at the hospital, I have too much time on my hands I don't know what to do with."

"In that case, I'm glad you chose to help me instead of Doctor Innocent."

"He already has help." Melissa responded. "And I prefer a former hunter and an arms dealer over the weird man who experimented on my son's step grandfather for years and is currently on a mission to turn the Dread Doctors' lairs into functional laboratories to continue his experiments."

"I thought Scott stopped all experiments on Mikael." Chris said, surprised. "He literally asked Deaton, Parrish and I to have Mikael put away into the deepest cell in Eichen House without any paperwork and had the few people who saw us compelled by a vampire he compelled himself to forget and erase everything to do with our visit there.

Scott even had Doctor Fenris compelled and placed a frighteningly powerful and tricky spell on Mikael's coffin to prevent anyone from finding, opening or even seeing it without meeting specific requirements and his verbal say so before we left New Orleans. Why would he..."

"Wow, I didn't know that." Melissa interrupted, more than a little surprised by how far Scott went to keep Mikael, for all intent and purposes, dead and a secret.

"You didn't?"

"No." Melissa answered. "As much as I support Scott, I want a little normalcy in my life and between us and I don't need to know everything he does supernatural world wise because I know the deeper he delves in it the more complex things get.

When he needs me, he knows that he can count on me and that's all that matters. I just want to see Scott my son when I look at him, not Scott the King Alpha."

"Normalcy." Chris said as though the word was foreign on his tongue. "I haven't had that in a long time."

"It's about time we change that then." Melissa replied. "Starting with taking off these plastic covers and cleaning this place. Beacon Hills is about to have the best security and consultant company it has ever seen and it all starts here, with something as normal as cleaning.

Oh, by the way; Doctor Innocent isn't going to continue experimenting on Mikael. Scott has what, in my opinion, is a way more interesting subject for Doctor Innocent to study."

"What would that be?"

"Something I'm sure Gerard would have preferred to cure his cancer over becoming a werewolf. You'll find out when it's ready. Now, let's get normal and cleaning. God, this place is dusty! (Sneeze!) Life doesn't get any more normal than this. (Sneeze!)"

Chris couldn't help but chuckle at that, before he sneezed as well.

TRANSITION

Presidential Room

"I can see their point and yours. The decision lies with you, though." Scott told Malia after she was done while they took their time showering. "Anything you want and think is best for us."

"So, if I want you to sleep with Sky...?"

"I'm not sleeping with Sky or any guy." Scott interrupted.

"Good. I don't want my boyfriend to have a boyfriend." Malia said, before she took a moment to think about her decision. "If we do this, you can't sleep with someone I don't verbally approve of and you don't do it behind my back."

"I told you I'm not taking this second chance for granted, Malia."

"It's not a second chance. I never thought about breaking up with you. If we have a problem, we'll speak about it before anything else." Malia replied.

"Oh, OK. I'm good with that." Scott said, kissing Malia's forehead. "You know, I really love you."

"I love you." Malia responded.

"Wait. You don't want me to sleep with anyone without your permission, what about you?"

"I don't want any boy who is not you inside me, especially with the risk of pregnancy since I know you won't impregnate anyone because of the spell you did."

"You still don't want it for yourself?"

"No."

"So, girls only?"

"Girls you approve of only." Malia clarified, before they continued where they left off with the others before they slept, but only for a quickie.

Rebekah groggily woke up to their sounds, confused about where she was until she remembered and saw Cora and Lydia. She was surprised that Malia and Scott recovered and woke up before her, though more so in Scott's case since Malia was an alpha.

Getting off the bed, Rebekah found her party dress on the floor, too torn up to be used again. Since she wasn't about to walk to her suite as she was, she decided to clean up while she waited for Malia and Scott to finish and then take a shower, borrow some clothes and go to her suite to check on Tara.

While she cleaned up, Rebekah thought back to the night's events and she couldn't believe that she had a fivesome. Sure in the hundreds of years she has walked the earth, she has tried a lot of things, adapting with the constantly changing times, but a fivesome?

Not until last night and she wouldn't have it any other way. Well, that's what Rebekah thought until she heard;

"I know you want to, so do it, Scott! You already did it again bef-ore we left yesterday. I-I want you to feed fro-from me. You can s-leep with other girls but I want you to feed directly only from m-e! Only I get to feel your breath on my neck, fangs pierce my..."

"External carotid ar-tery." Scott supplied labouringly.

"Yes, that." Malia said, equally labouringly. "Only I g-et to feel that and...Ah!"

TRANSITION

Wickery Bridge

"How many vampires have you identified so far?" Carol asked Meredith as they met at the bridge.

"A lot more than I thought I would. I've identified at least five vampires who still blood bags from Mystic Falls Hospital's blood bank, including Stefan Salvatore, using my personal surveillance cameras. You made a discovery of our lifetime with the rings." Meredith replied.

"That's good to hear. It seems Town Council will be effective in riding Mystic Falls of vampires with your leadership."

"If only we had more members as loyal as you and I are to our town's safety." Meredith commented, before they separated.

TRANSITION

Presidential Room

After Malia and Scott were done with everything, they existed the bathroom with bathrobes on to find their bedroom in a better state than it was when they entered the bathroom and Rebekah out on the bedroom's balcony, wearing Scott's undershirt, overlooking the town.

"What are you?" Rebekah asked before Malia and Scott could say anything from inside the bedroom.

"What do you...?" Scott tried to ask, approaching the balcony.

"What are you, Scott?!" Rebekah interrupted, turning around with Scott's blood flasks in hand, fury building up in her eyes although it was partially hidden by tears and a pained look, and those hid fear of Klaus. "I heard what you said while you were having sex in the bathroom and I found these."

It took a moment for Malia, who with Scott, joined Rebekah on the balcony, and Scott to remember what Rebekah was talking about with reference to the flasks, but they didn't get why she was reacting the way she was.

They didn't know that Rebekah thought Klaus turned Scott and sent Scott after Rebekah after finding a way to hide Scott's hybrid nature, particularly his vampire side, probably after forcing Bonnie to do it for him, with the hopes of Rebekah falling for Scott.

And maybe bribed Scott with the possibility of turning his pack if Scott brought Rebekah back to Klaus or found her. The way Rebekah knew Klaus, she knew that was something he was capable of doing.

Being that Malia and Scott were dating and Malia was an alpha, there was also the possibility that Klaus figured once he convinced Scott to his side, Scott would convince Malia and the rest of her betas, also known as werewolf bodyguards MPGs and SPGs.

"You smell like a werewolf but..." Rebekah went on until she was interrupted.

"I'm a chimera." Scott said, thinking of an idea on the spot to embrace what supernatural leaders in Beacon Hills assumed and divert Rebekah from the truth or linking him to Klaus.

He knew that he could just compel her but he couldn't find it in himself to compel someone he had sex with just a few hours ago, he just couldn't do it. Even if not doing so meant he had to tell Beacon Council that he wasn't just a werewolf. That was inevitable, anyway.

Truthfully, Scott knew his and New Beacon Pack's existence would reach Klaus soon enough, Melissa was right, so he wanted to at least make himself appear as an even bigger threat to Klaus' far smaller pack.

Even one as arrogant and powerful as Klaus couldn't possibly think that he could face New Beacon Pack; at least that's what Scott thought and hoped. If Rebekah went around spreading rumors of a chimera by the name Scott, all the better.

People feared the Mikaelsons even as most believed them a myth, so Scott figured if Rebekah and everyone who knew or suspected his 'chimera' status and spread rumors about it, being that they were people who saw him doing compulsions at school, they would be helping him build a myth of his own that would help keep those he loves safe.

"What?" Rebekah asked, confused, and so was Malia who wondered why Scott didn't just compel Rebekah.

"I'm a chimera, a being made up of incongruous parts." Scott answered, and technically, he was right in referring to himself as a chimera. "A while ago, a trio of parascientists, collectively called Dread Doctors, arrived in my town and experimented on unwilling humans and supernaturals.

They were somehow successful in scientifically changing people; like making humans pseudo-supernaturals and overpowering some supernaturals' powers to cause them to lose control while depowering others to make them weak; sometimes they added traits of other species to them.

Just know that before the Dread Doctors arrived, I was a werewolf. After they were killed by their own creation and we killed that creation, I wasn't just a werewolf."

Rebekah took a moment to process that, seating on a chair and placing Scott's flasks on the table on the balcony.

"Now that your question has been answered, why did you react the way you did?" Malia questioned, not giving Rebekah a moment to properly process what Scott said.

"I, I crossed paths with a pack of vampire-werewolf hybrids a while ago and I killed one of them." Rebekah said, taking a risk on the fact that the other werewolves showed a common dislike for vampires, something she momentarily forgot when she overheard Malia and Scott.

"There's only one vampire-werewolf hybrid pack." Scott commented, sharing a look with Malia.

"Klaus' Pack. That explains the fear." Malia replied, and then focused on Rebekah again. "But we haven't heard anything about someone killing a member of his pack."

Rebekah wasn't surprised that they had heard of Klaus' Pack, word had to have spread of the Original Hybrid making more like him, but she scoffed at the last part.

"Of course, you haven't." She responded, and momentarily forgot to maintain the story she was building. "Nik would never want his precious hybrids to appear weak."

"Nik?" Lydia's voice came from the bedroom, heading for the balcony with Cora, both having borrowed themselves Scott's shirts after being woken up by Rebekah's shout earlier and Cora siphoned Lydia's hangover and some of the effects of the fivesome away. "(Whisper) Oh my God.

Niklaus; Nik, Klaus. And you're Rebekah. Klaus is your brother Nik, the brother you told me about yesterday. Which means... (Lydia looked between Rebekah and Scott, and whispered again) Oh my God."

It didn't take long for Cora, Malia and Scott to put the pieces Lydia laid out together and get the painted picture she saw and when they did, Scott couldn't believe it. Well, he did, which was why he didn't want to believe it because of what it meant.

Rebekah realized her slip but she didn't get the reaction she expected. It seemed like everyone was in on something that only she wasn't and that bothered her.

"Which means what?" Rebekah questioned, standing up.

Scott did the opposite of what she did and took a seat, not knowing what to say.