"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon smirks as Alaric unveils on his desk a pack of different, wooden or vervain weaponry to use against vampires.

"I've you to thank for that," Alaric retorts in cold sarcasm. Emily eyes the weapons admirably, feeling a surge of adrenaline rush within her.

"What are these?" she asks.

"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain," Alaric replies. Emily faces him with a smirk. He smiles back coyly.

"Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out," Damon says from beside her.

"That's your plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?" Elena mocks.

"Do you have a better one, super girl?" Damon irritably retorts. Emily rolls her eyes. The two were unbelievable together.

"Yeah," she says, taking out one of the hand-held, metallic vervain darts.

"Whoa. What are you doing?" Alaric says, putting a hand out and taking it from her.

"I'm going with you guys," she says.

"Say what now?" Emily retorts.

"No. No. No. No. No way," Damon shakes his head, facing Alaric, when she speaks again.

"I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out," she says.

"You'll get yourself killed, you mean," Damon states.

"Elena-" Emily starts.

"Look, I'm going, okay?" Elena frantically insists.

"No. You're not," Emily strictly clarifies.

"Oh my god, Emily. Enough with this. You're not my mom!" Elena angrily exclaims. Alaric looks to the two uncomfortably, as Emily's eyes widen, heavily offended, and Damon snaps at Elena.

"Hey. Don't talk to your sister like that," he strictly tells. Elena squints her eyes at him in annoyance, as Emily faces him curiously. He walks towards Elena, getting between her and Emily as he spoke in a colder tone. "And you're not going anywhere. End of story."

"Damon, you can't!"

"I can," he cuts her off. Elena eyes him in disbelief as he faces Alaric again. "So, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way," he states. Alaric nods in understanding. Emily touches Damon's shoulder, and he turns to her expectantly.

"Can I talk to you," she nods at the door. He furrows his brows worriedly, as Elena gazes between them in confusion.

Damon nods, and the two head out the room.

Elena goes to follow, but Alaric holds her back, and tries to convince her they're right.

XXX

"What is it?" Damon asks her, the two out in the dimly lit, school hallway.

"You can't be serious about going in alone," she said, eyeing him intently. Damon inhaled tiredly at that. "I can help you. I was trained to-"

"No, Emily. Whatever you were taught to do, it won't be good enough to keep you alive-"

"But what about you?!"

"I can't be distracted with your safety! I have to be able to get in and get out, Emily, please…Don't make this harder than it already is…" he urgently said.

She looks to the floor, slowly nodding in disappointment and understanding, loathing the fact that, yet again, she felt useless. Damon felt a hint of guilt, regretting his tone.

"Just…please be careful," she softly pled. Damon's features somewhat calmed, his heart pinching at the genuine care in her eyes. He nodded.

"I will…" then he grew silent, and just stood there, as she, as if they were waiting for something.

Emily threw caution into the wind, and gently grabbed his face, kissing him warmly. Damon wasn't all that surprised; he was mulling over doing the same thing, felt he needed to, and he was right. He felt his chest relax as she kissed him yearningly, and he kissed her back with equal force, moaning in relief, a sound that made her heart race as he held her by the back and hip.

"Uh, wow," a voice uttered, causing them to pull apart, and find Elena at the door of the classroom, looking at them in shock and impatience. Alaric appears from behind her with the black duffle bag over his shoulder, and seeing the two stand this closely, before they pulled away, made the nature of their relationship evidently clear.

Elena shakes her head and shaking the image out of her mind as she said: "Alaric said I could drive the car." Both Damon and Emily are irritated by this, hence turning to the teacher.

"She won't get in the house! She'll be a safe distance away," he states. Damon sighs.

"Fine. I'll be with her," Emily nods. Damon faces her again in reluctance. "We won't go in," she calmly assures. Hesitant still, Damon is tired of arguing.

"Okay. Let's go," he said, heading to move.

XXX

Ten minutes in, and the sisters are still waiting within Damon's car for his and Alaric's return with Stefan. Emily was at the driver's seat, and Elena to her side, head whirling to look at one window and the other every few seconds. Emily twirled the stake Alaric had given her around in her hand. She hadn't gotten the chance to pick hers up from the house when she followed Damon and Elena out in haste. Alaric had also given Elena a vervain dart, that she was gripping firmly in her hand.

Emily had asked him about the weapons on their way here, and he said that most he made himself, some were made by a good friend of his named Jack, an artistic wood worker, hence the decorated engravings on some stakes, including the one in her hand.

Alaric and Elena hadn't exactly gotten the chance, nor did they entirely want to, talk about Isobel. There was enough on their minds as is to open up another chapter.

Elena sighed anxiously from beside her. The rain poured audibly heavily down upon the roof of the car, fountain like against the glass and closed windows. The weather was a biting chilly, and they were lucky to have picked up jackets before leaving the house, Emily in a hoody, and Elena in a dark jacket.

The older Gilbert faced her worked up sister, and said nothing, for there was nothing she could say to ease either of their tensions,

as they waited…

The window to Emily's side suddenly knocks, causing her to snap at it in shock as Elena gasped from beside her. It was only Alaric, whose face was blurred by the rain against the glass. "Pop the trunk!" he said in a muffled tone. Emily complied and bend over as Elena got out of the car. Emily momentarily turned, and eased as she saw Elena was only standing out the open door, talking to Alaric, who was stood behind the car, waiting for her to open the trunk.

She did so, as Elena asked: "Did you find him?!"

"No! Not yet!" he shouted back.

When Emily looked up after she was done, and Alaric was putting his duffle bag in,

she notices her sister's door is still open,

and Elena is nowhere in sight.

"Elena!" Emily warily called, getting out of the car to look around.

She sees a figure rushing away, through the woods,

towards the house.

Her eyes widen in horror.

"Elena!" she loudly shouted, bolting after her. At the name, Alaric looked up, to see Emily running off. He cursed as he called after her and she ignored him as she rushed after her currently impulsive.

XXX

Elena crouched when the house was in sight, but continued to rush, climbing over the fencing, and sticking lowly to the brick wall, beneath a window. She could hear voices through the front door not far off when she looked, and she quickly hid back,

but then she noticed stairs leading down to what was surely a basement, where she was confident was Stefan's whereabouts. With dart still in hand, she sharply inhaled, readying herself to move.

As carefully as she could, she hurried towards the stairs, still crouched down.

She was only spotted by her sister, who was forced to move more slowly when in sight of the house.

Quietly climbing down, Elena stopped opposite a door with a glass panel. She carefully tried the knob, which refused to open the door.

There was only one other solution, and she winced at the idea of the noise it would make.

"Elena!" a sound hissed behind her, causing her to jump, then breathe in relief upon noting it was her sister, who was evidently furious. Elena refrained from being intimidated into going back, so instead, she grabbed the door knob, and shook it lightly, looking to her sister in hint for help.

Emily took notice, and looked away, pursing her lips from tension.

Surely she wouldn't help her sister into a house full of vampires.

About to negate, she looked to Elena again, who mouthed her a desperate please.

…After another moment of heavy reluctance, Emily eventually joins her down the stairs, fishing a pin from her jeans' front pocket. Praying she could guide her sister about to safety, and insisting that if Stefan was not down there, they would go, Emily knelt down, put her stake to the ground, and brought focus to the weak lock. Elena watched in amazement, and optimism as Emily worked,

till the lock finally clicked open.

Emily retrieved her weapon, and rose to look at Elena in little hope of going back, but all she did was attempt to go through, forcing Emily to push her back, and take lead.

Elena followed, and Emily pushed her against the wall for stealth. She stopped at a turn, and oh-so-cautiously, peeked around it.

Her heart jumped upon spotting what was surely a vampire at the end of the stony hallway, seated on a chair. She pulls back, and Elena grows wary. Emily thinks over,

when she starts to hear his footsteps shuffle,

and near them.

She froze, and looked to Elena with a finger over her mouth in warning. Elena nodded confidently, gripping the vervain tightly.

The footsteps continued to near them, and near them, affirming the fact that they must have somehow been heard or seen,

till eventually, Emily had to act.

She lunged forward with heavy force, lunging the stake low into the abdomen of the man opposite her, and causing him to scream out in pain. Elena came out, and gawked at the sight of her sister impaling a vampire, who actually looked to be in pain.

The man looked up at her menacingly, and Emily, though slightly panicked, was about to pull it back out, and aim for his heart, as well as Elena was ready to inject him with vervain,

when Damon rushed over, and snapped his neck, causing both girls to jump in surprise.

He eyed them in furious disbelief. "Are you insane?!" he demanded.

"I'm not leaving without him," Elena lowly said. Damon eyed her in utter frustration, then turned to Emily, who was pulling her stake out from the man on the floor. He stared at her for a minute, and what she'd just done. She rose and looked up at him expectantly. He reluctantly whirled back, nodding at them to follow.

They stalk carefully past a door that seemed to lead into the house, where loud music was blaring from inside, to the end of the hallway, with a wooden door. He barges in,

to find Stefan tied by the arms to the ceiling, feet barely reaching the floor, body smudged in blood where there were wounds that had healed, and he seemed only half-conscious. Damon surpassed the rage rising in his chest as he rushed in to free him. Stefan took notice, and was relieved for a moment, till he spotted Elena and Emily entering behind him.

Damon then noticed another vampire strapped to a chair near Stefan, and approached him as Stefan weakly said: "Elena…you shouldn't be here…" She did not reply as she neared him, eyeing his state in sorrow and anger.

Stefan notices Damon is about to stake the other vampire, Harper, and yells out: "Unh! No. No. No. Not him." Damon holds his hand, and turns back irritably, to the ropes that were tying him up.

"Whatever. Let's get you down," he retorted.

"There's vervain on the ropes," Stefan warns. Damon exhales in extreme annoyance.

"Emily. Pull that," he calls. She immediately complies, and rushes forward to do so. Damon walks back to Elena's side, putting his arms around Stefan.

When Emily unties the ropes, Stefan falls forward, groaning in pain, but is held up by his brother, who then leaves him in Elena's arms as he glances warily out the door. "All right, let's go. Clothes on," he says.

"Wait!" Stefan calls. Damon faces him warily.

"What? Guys, come on. We have to get out of here," he urges. Stefan bends over and pulls a stick of wood out of Harper's leg, sighing coarsely from weakness as he moved. Damon rolled his eyes. "Come on, we gotta go!"

Emily rushes forward and pulls out the other one as Elena covers Stefan with his shirt and jacket. Harper gives Emily a look of gratitude, and she nods at him, rising to follow after her sister.

They head to Damon at the door, and he faces them again as they cautiously walk back out. "Can you get him in the car?" he asks.

"Yeah," Elena nods.

"Alright, go," he told.

"What about you?" Emily warily asks, appearing from behind them.

"You rescue. I'll distract. Go," he tells.

"Damo-" she rejects, but he cuts her off.

"Emily. Now. Move!" he strictly said, giving her a firm push forward.

Reluctantly, and out of clear urgency, she complies.

XXXXX