Katherine and her ideas—her damn, stupid, uncalled for ideas.

As Damon made his way through his former home a thousand different thoughts ran through his mind, unfortunately, none of those devised a plan.

Any plan would do, except this.

But, it was the only one they had—oh, now he was just thinking in circles which were doing nothing but pissing himself off. Which he could easily assume the last thing they needed right now was an overly angry werewolf.

Damon felt many things about the scheme that Katherine had cooked up in a manner of five seconds, none of them were settling. He could feel the fear and the nerves coursing through his veins as if there were going to take on a life of their own.

Not that he would ever admit that out loud, especially in front of Katherine. If they all survived this—she would never let him live it down.

Damon opened the front door to the house, stepping outside. The black sky was lit by one thing, the moon. The very thing that he couldn't take his eyes off or as he walked further from the house.

It was the first time in years he noticed it, it hung in the sky—alone, he couldn't remember a time since he was young that he even paid attention to the phase of the moon.

"Are we too late"? Grayson asked as he and Katherine followed Damon outside.

"No," Damon told him, though he regretted it almost immediately. "Not yet".

"I thought it took hours"? Grayson asked.

"The first time it does," Damon told him. "It took me four—".

"Five, almost six" Katherine interrupted him.

Damon looked back at Katherine who was looking up in the sky as he just was, he sometimes forgot that he wasn't alone that night. It was hard to remember—all he could recall was the pain, the agony of every bone of his body breaking—his body twisting in ways that no human would survive but then again he wasn't human.

He definitely wasn't looking forward to it again.

"Last chance" Damon said turning around. "Does anyone have any other plans"?

"Is this your way of attempting to get out of this"? Katherine asked crossing her arms.

"Getting out of this"? Damon repeated. "You think that's what this is about—Katherine any time I have turned I have been chained up in a cellar or a basement or whatever, I don't know if I will have any control or not—I'm worried about what will happen if I don't".

"If there is a vampire in town you should feel this pull towards them," Katherine said.

"If and should, that gives me all the hope in the world," Damon said sarcastically.

"Damon, it's instincts—it's predatorial, vampires and werewolves have been known enemies since the beginning of time".

"Next are you going to tell me that vampires sparkle in the sun"? Damon asked her. "I need a little bit more than the rules of twilight right now"!

"I'm not excited about this either but Katherine is right this is our only chance," Grayson said.

"I would feel a lot more comfortable if I knew I had some sort of control over my actions," Damon told him. "Just go—find Stefan, get him to safety—and Grayson if you see me and I come at any of you—don't hesitate to shoot me".

"What"? Katherine yelled.

"If I hurt Stefan I would never be able to forgive myself" Damon cut her off. "Just go. You and Liz get the kids to safety—if your sister is right and there is a vampire then we're about to have a blood bath".

Grayson didn't waste another second, he jumped in his car and sped off down the road until he was out of sight.

"If I trust you with this can you promise not to sink it to the bottom of the Quarry"? Damon asked walking over to Katherine, twisting the moon ring around his finger.

"No promises".

Damon smirked, but he slowly and cautiously removed the ring as though it was breakable before handing it to the woman he once trusted with his life.

"Now what"? Katherine asked.

"Now we wait," he told her. "And we pray to God that you're right—and if you're not we pray even harder".


It was very rare that Mystic Grill was empty, especially on a Friday night—Grayson assumed that was Liz's doing. Even with the high schoolers roaming the woods, it would be packed with locals and the town drunks.

The booths were vacant, no one was managing the bar, even the pool table was unoccupied.

"Good. You're here" Grayson heard and looked up to see Liz walking in from the back of the restaurant.

"What took you so damn long"? Richard Lockwood asked joining Liz.

The mayor of Mystic Falls, or as Grayson refers to him the "ass" of the town. He wasn't even entirely sure how he won the election, he was sure there was cheating of some kind.

"I was with Damon and Katherine, Sheila went to sit with Miranda," Grayson told them. "She is going to try to do a locator spell, so we can at least get a definite location on the kids".

"At least someone is doing something," Richard told Grayson. "We can't exactly leave it up to you to find our kids".

"I thought Tyler was at home"?

"He snuck out, too" Liz informed Grayson.

"Really"? Grayson asked, half grinning even given the circumstances. "I would have thought you would be a better father than that, especially after that speech you gave everyone on the tips to prevent your kids from sneaking out—the great measures that you and Carol go to know where your child is at all times".

"Listen here Grayson—".

"We don't have time for you two to get into this right now," Liz told them. "We actually need to get out there and find our kids".

"When I find Tyler I'm going to—" Richard began.

"You're going to what"? Grayson cut him off, again. "Lay into him as your old man did you, why don't you evolve a little more than beating your kid"?

"At least I show my son a little discipline, show him authority" Richard yelled at Grayson. "Your kids don't seem to listen to anything you say".

"Last I checked Tyler snuck out just the same" Grayson shot back. "So, maybe your not so fit to be handing out the bad father of the year awards".

"Enough" Liz yelled. "This weird romance thing you two have going is going to have to be put on pause until we find our kids—safely".

Grayson rotated his glare from Richard to Liz, just because she once again insinuated that the two men "argued like an old married couple" as she had put it many times before.

"I told everyone it was a gas leak," Liz told them as she adjusted the belt around her waist that held her gums safely. "Once the grill cleared out mostly everyone went home, the town has cleared out".

Grayson lifted the duffel bag and dumped it onto a large table—spilling out the contents inside. Most of which was made of wood, for a precise reason.

"Nice" Richard said lifting up a crossbow examining its features.

Grayson jerked it out of his hands, instantly. "Adults only," he told Richard with a rather enjoyable smirk. "Here" he said handing Liz a gun. "It shoots wooden bullets".

Liz and Grayson each quickly dug into the large pile of handcrafted stakes and the many weapons.

"And what exactly am I supposed to carry"? Richard asked crossing his arms at Grayson.

"Here, you can carry the flashlight," Grayson told him.

Liz could easily tell Richard had half a mind to clock Grayson over the head with the flashlight, and she just didn't have the time to split them up right now.

"Here," Liz said handing Richard a weapon, she didn't pay attention to what one just that he had it.

"Sheila just sent me the coordinates," Grayson said as he took off towards the door. "Let's go get our kids".


"You're going to burn a hole in the ground," Katherine said.

Damon didn't stop the pacing he had been doing for what felt like hours, though in reality, it had only been thirty minutes. Although in that half-hour Katherine had yet to move, she stood with her back against the large SUV he assumed belonged to her— consistently twirling his moonlight ring around her pinky finger.

Which he was determined not to let bother him.

"I'm good at many things Katherine—waiting isn't exactly one of them," Damon said.

He continued to walk back and forth, unable to ignore the ring slowly circling around her finger.

"What exactly are you good at to begin with"? Katherine asked.

Round and round the ring went.

"Lots of things," Damon said trying to swallow the agitation inside of him. "Sex. I'm really good at sex, or did you forget"?

"If I forgot then you weren't that good at it, to begin with" she teased.

Damon attempted to look ahead of him, or keep his eyes at the ground—but he could still see the ring out of the corner of his eye. It bounced around her pinky slower and slower, or maybe he just saw it that way. He couldn't tell.

"Would you stop"? Damon asked stopping dead in his tracks, which was a horrible choice of words at the moment. "You're going to end up losing the damn thing".

Katherine, taken aback by his sudden outburst stopped swirling the ring he had previously worn on his finger. She reached around her neck, unclasping the necklace, slid it onto the chain, and hooked the necklace back around her neck. "There" she said. "It's safe"

Most people would say thank you or show some form of gratitude but she got nothing more than a "good" from Damon Salvatore.

"You're making it easier and easier to remember why we didn't work out," Katherine told him folding her eyes. "You're still a dick".

"Katherine, I'm in the one place I never thought I would be again—the one place I hate most in the world. My mom is dead—she is lying inside dead, my brother is out in the middle of the woods with a vampire on the loose—the only family I have left by the way, and now I have to break every single bone in my body just to save him and I don't even know if it's going to work. I might just be doing him more harm than good right now, and if we all live through this I have to tell him our mom is dead—of a heart attack which isn't the truth, I have to lie to him about how our mother died so sue me if I'm having a bad day".

Katherine didn't respond, at first. Instead, she stood back and watched Damon—in a shape she had never seen him in. She wasn't sure if it was his impending transition, the fear for his little brother's life, or the death of his mother that set him over the edge—perhaps it was all of it.

Damon normally did well under stress, he made his smart ass remarks and moved on.

Under any circumstances.

But, not today. Today was different.

"You're right," Katherine said. "I'm sorry".

"You're right? I'm sorry"? Damon repeated with a smirk. "How did those words taste coming out of your mouth"?

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Like vinegar," she told him. "Damon"?

"Hmm"?

"What is it"? She asked him.

Damon didn't stop pacing but he did look up over at her "what are you talking about"? He asked.

"I have watched you lose a parent before," Katherine told him. "I just have never seen you like this before".

"Please don't compare my amazing mother to my ass of a father," Damon said. "Two different relationships".

"Oh, you just seemed like something was bothering you," Katherine said, before having the ultimate 'duh' moment in her head. "I meant besides all this, you just act like your head is somewhere else".

No matter how much time they spent apart she could still read him like a book—he hated that.

"You're not wrong," Damon told her, stopping for the first time, turning to look at her. "Out of everyone in Mystic Falls they come after my mother who just happens to be a witch from the most powerful bloodline and—AHHH".

Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin as she watched Damon hit his knees, his ankle twisted in a way that was in-human. But, soon enough he wouldn't be.

"Okay," Katherine said, rushing over to him. "Just breathe, you have to let it in—don't fight it".

"Damn it" Damon cursed, followed by the horrid sound of a loud crack—through the pain that coursed through his veins made it impossible to determine which bone had broke. "You have to go inside, now".

"I'm not leaving you here".

"AHHH" Damon yelled, his scream echoing through the woods. "Go inside—now".

"No".

"You're so damn stubborn".

"Pot meet kettle".

Katherine reached out and took hold of his hand, grasping it in hers. She knew she knew there was no running from the pain for him, so at the very least he wouldn't go through it alone.

Instead, she held his hand—as long as she could.

Damon's body twisted and cracked, but she stayed—until he looked at her, his eyes glowing a bright yellow.

Katherine jumped to her feet, but instead of running into his house, or his mother's house—whoever's damn house it was, she ran. Away. She couldn't let him make it inside with Mary, so she had to lead him away. So, she did.

If the cellar was strong enough to keep him in, it should be strong enough to keep him out—and it was far enough away that he might get distracted from going in his house.

And it worked, Katherine got the door locked, just in time.

She could feel her heart racing as the sound of the beast on the other side tried to come through, and for a second she worried—stepping as far back as she could. But, the noise quit—and quietly she listened as he disappeared.


"Okay—just stay right there" Liz heard Grayson say into the speaker of his phone. "I'm aware—go inside and lock the door—Katherine for the love of God could you just do one thing I ask you to do—fine, bye".

A moment of silence passed as the three continued to walk, but after a short minute Grayson finally spoke "Damon turned" he said. "So, keep your eyes open".

"So, we have a vampire and a werewolf lose"? Richard asked. "And this was your best idea—to let a beast roam through the woods"?

"Stop it," Liz said.

"I'm serious, Liz," Richard said. "There are a bunch of kids out here—all of ours included, we already have one monster on the loose and he just let another one run free".

"If there is a vampire loose Damon will be drawn to it," Liz told him.

"You hope, but how would you feel if that beast tears apart a kid".

"You know" Grayson cut Richard off, almost nonchalantly, almost. "Did you know that the werewolf gene is hereditary, it's passed down from generation to generation"?

"What's your point"? Richard asked hastily. "That if Damon reproduces we will have a whole pack of them running around"?

"No, you have to kill someone for it to activate the gene—but I suspect you already knew that".

"Excuse me"? Richard asked his voice low—just above a growl.

"The Salvatores wasn't known for being werewolf's until Giuseppe—Damon and Stefan's father until his grandfather married a woman I think her name was Lucille," Grayson said, with a bit of too much arrogance in his voice. "Her maiden name—was Lockwood, so like I said—I suspect you already knew that".

Liz watched, in half shock—and half amusement, as Grayson walked away, leaving Richard speechless for the first time since he learned how to talk.